Israeli Strikes Kill Five Palestinians in Gaza

A drone fired a missile on a group of people in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza. The casualties come as Israel increases its attacks on central Gaza City, where at least 34 people were injured in bombings yesterday.

Three Palestinians waiting for aid near Gaza City were also killed after being hit by Israeli artillery fire on coastal al-Rashid Street, reports the Wafa news agency, quoting local medical sources.

Palestinians in the north have been gathering on the coastal road as they desperately wait for food, amid reports residents there face starvation.

Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital, one of the few partially functioning health facilities left in the north, has had to cancel all surgical operations after two of its operating rooms were “targeted and destroyed,” according to its acting director Mohamed Salha.

“This means that all medical services related to obstetrics and gynaecology have stopped completely,” Salha told Al Jazeera. The closure also means the hospital must cancel all orthopaedic and plastic surgeries, which can help save the limbs of wounded Palestinians, Salha said.

“We were the only hospital in northern Gaza for orthopaedic surgeries… There is no other alternative place in northern Gaza or Gaza City because the health ministry’s hospitals are out of service completely,” he said.

The Health Ministry in Gaza reports that at least 29,954 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7. Additionally, 70,325 people have been wounded, including at least 76 deaths in the past 24 hours.