Israeli army renders Gaza City hospital out of service again after recent repairs

The Israeli army has inflicted heavy damage on a hospital in Gaza City, rendering it out of service once again after recent repairs.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army partially destroyed the Patient Friend's Hospital in western Gaza City during shelling and airstrikes.

The hospital, which had recently been repaired and had resumed offering health services, was heavily damaged in the attack.

Several parts of the hospital were severely damaged by the Israeli shelling, causing it to cease operations once again, the eyewitnesses added.

The Israeli incursion into the area also forced the residents to flee it under Israeli fire.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli army partially retreated from several areas in the city, leaving large-scale destruction in residential areas.

The Patient Friend's Hospital, one of the oldest health centers in Gaza, was badly damaged in the early days of the Israeli onslaught against Gaza in October, forcing it to shut down before being repaired.

The Israeli army has deliberately and systematically targeted hospitals across the Gaza Strip as part of its ongoing deadly offensive on the enclave.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Over 38,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar