Extensive Damage Inflicted to Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital Due to Israeli Air Raids

The hospital itself also suffered severe damage, severing important departments such as the X-ray department. Following the sound of a massive impact, people gathered outside the hospital were seen running for cover, according to the Reuters news agency.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) chiefs had earlier declared that the situation at al-Shifa, the biggest hospital in Gaza, was "disastrous," with emergency rooms crammed to capacity with sick and injured people. They also said that medical professionals are compelled to treat patients in the hospital's "corridors, on the floor, and outdoors."

This came after increased talks about a possible ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10-15 captives, but airstrikes continued to pound not only the northern but also the southern parts of Gaza, including the city of Khan Younis.

The site was originally a British army barracks in Gaza City's northern Remal neighborhood, close to the port. It was converted into a hospital in 1946 and expanded several times during Egyptian rule and the Israeli occupation in the 1980s.

Al-Shifa is now at breaking point, battling to treat thousands of patients as it comes under direct attack from the Israeli military.

Last week, the Israeli army bombed an ambulance outside the hospital, part of a convoy that was meant to carry patients from Gaza City to the Rafah border crossing, so they could be treated in Egypt. Fifteen people were killed in the attack, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which had coordinated the journey with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the attack, which killed people inside and around the ambulance, should be investigated as a possible war crime.

At least 10,569 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.