At least 70 killed across Gaza as Israel 'destroys last hospital in the north'

Israel killed at least 70 Palestinians in the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday, renewing deadly airstrikes on residential buildings and tents housing displaced people across the Gaza Strip.

At least 25 people were killed in an airstrike on the home of the al-Masry family in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

The victims included 13 children, medical sources said, with more people still trapped under rubble.

Israel has imposed an intensified siege on northern Gaza since October and carried out indiscriminate airstrikes on residential areas there, in what is believed to be an attempt to kill or forcibly displace the remaining residents there.

More than 1,800 people have been killed since October in northern Gaza, while the total death toll from over a year of Israel’s war on Gaza stands at least 43,374, with 102,261 wounded.

Israeli planes dropped leaflets over Beit Lahia ordering residents who have not yet left their homes and shelters housing displaced families to quit the town completely.

"To all those who remained at homes and shelters, you are risking your lives. For your safety you have to head south," said the leaflet, which was written in Arabic.

Palestinians said the orders were aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones.

The civil defence in Gaza said on Tuesday that the north of the strip was “facing a real famine” due to Israeli forces stopping aid reaching the area.

On Monday, Israel formally notified the UN that it would stop UNRWA, the main agency providing aid to Palestinians, from operating in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel.

Four other people were killed in the Tuffah area of Gaza City, according to Al-Jazeera, while at least six Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces bombed their tents in the town of Al-Zawayda near the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The victims in Al-Zawayda included two children aged six and four. A mother of one person killed said that they were burned alive by the attack while sleeping.

Israel ‘destroying’ last functioning hospital

On Monday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said that Israel had “bombed and destroyed” Beit Lahia’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only medical facility operating in northern Gaza, saying that Israeli attacks had caused, reporting "numerous injuries among medical staff and patients."

Houssam Abou Safia, the hospital’s director said that the situation at Kamal Adwan was “catastrophic”, with Israeli forces bombing it without any warning, while WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that six children were injured by Israeli bombing.

"The third floor of the facility was reportedly hit again, injuring six children," he said in a post on X.

Medical staff at the hospital said that newborn babies were injured in the bombing, according to Al-Jazeera.

100 patients to be evacuated

The WHO also said that 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer.

"These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza," said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.

The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.

Agencies contributed to this report.