Many casualties as Israel escalates attacks across Gaza

Health Ministry reports ‘large numbers’ of killed and wounded rushed to hospital as a result of nonstop Israeli bombing.

The Israeli military is conducting intense assaults across the Gaza Strip by air, land and sea, causing many casualties and spreading fear among its war-weary displaced population.

Dozens of air raids hit the besieged territory on Saturday, particularly in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, homes west of the city of Rafah in the south and multiple areas in Gaza City to the north.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said “large numbers” of killed and wounded were arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the majority of whom are children and women.

“Dozens of injured people are lying on the ground, and medical teams are trying to save them with the basic medical capabilities they have available,” it said, adding that it is short on medicine and food, and that its main generator has stopped functioning due to a lack of fuel.

Communications were affected amid the intense bombardment, but reporting from inside the “overwhelmed” hospital via a telephone call, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the situation is tense, with terrified people on the street not knowing where to turn.