Alleged Israeli strike on Red Crescent hospital in Gaza kills 5

Tel Aviv, Jan 3 (IANS) At least five people, including a five-day-old infant, were killed in an alleged Israeli strike that hit a hospital within the premises of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in southern Gaza's Khan Younis city.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Al Amal hospital was struck in the attack on Tuesday.

A training centre run by the PRCS within the hospital complex was also severely damaged, it said.

Condemning the strike, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that officials from OCHA and WHO "undertook a mission to the facilities, where they witnessed extensive damage and displacement of civilians".

"The attacks, according to the PRCS, killed at least five civilians, including a 5-day old infant. 14,000 people were sheltering at the hospital in the besieged southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Many of them have now left, and those remaining are extremely fearful for their safety and planning to leave a place they had turned to for refuge and protection.

"Hospitals, ambulances, health workers, and people seeking care must be protected, at all times, under international humanitarian law. Today’s bombardments are unconscionable. Gaza’s health system is already on its knees, with health and aid workers continuously stymied in their efforts to save lives due to the hostilities," he said in a post on X.

The WHO chief further called for "an immediate ceasefire, including urgent action to ensure the accelerated and unimpeded flow of food, medical supplies, water and other essential items to millions of civilians forced to live in unspeakable conditions of hunger, disease spread, and lack of hygiene and sanitation".

Also condemning the bombardment, Gemma Connell, the OCHA head in Gaza, said that there was no safe place in the besieged enclave.

“Five people were killed here, including a five-day-old child. It’s a Palestinian Red Crescent Society facility clearly marked with the Red Crescent emblem on the roof.

"No child in the world should be killed, let alone one sheltering under the emblem of a humanitarian organisation, the world should be ashamed," she added.