'Shocked and devastated': Gaza City assault leaves Palestinians traumatised

The director of Al Shifa Hospital was on duty on Saturday marshalling the facility’s response to Israel’s assault on Gaza City when two victims killed in a strike were delivered to the ward: his brother and his sister-in-law.

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“T was shocked and devastated to see the bodies of my brother and his wife,” said Mohammed Abu Salmiya, who was working in the emergency department of the territory’s main hospital at the time.

“Anything is possible now, as you receive your dearest ones as martyrs or wounded,” he said. “The occupation’s crimes continue, and the number of martyrs keeps rising,”

The Gaza civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said at least 87 people were killed by Israeli strikes on Saturday, 70 of them in Gaza City.

The agency said 11 were killed when warplanes struck the Dughmush family in the city’s Al Sabra neighbourhood.

Al Shifa Hospital confirmed it had received 34 bodies from Gaza City, while the Baptist Hospital said it had received 28.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment on the overall toll or reports of the deaths of Al Shifa director Salmiya’s relatives.

But it said it was continuing to expand its operations in Gaza City, saying “troops dismantled numerous terror infrastructure sites ... and additionally eliminated several terrorists” of Hamas.