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Israeli air strikes damage medical clinic and offices in Gaza

17 May 2021 16:33 BST

Israeli air strikes on Gaza have hit a six-storey building near the Remal medical clinic, next to a school, an orphanage and a Palestinian Ministry of Health office, causing severe damage and killing at least two people.  

Widespread destruction was caused in the area, according to Middle East Eye’s correspondent on the ground, Mohammed al-Hajjar. 

Meanwhile, residents are shaken by the strikes having hit so close to humanitarian facilities. 

"No one is safe in the Gaza strip, no one here is safe. In our homes we are being targeted, children are being targeted, women, the elderly, the offices of the Ministry of Health - everything is destroyed. Why have they destroyed the building immediately next to the Ministry of Health?," one person told MEE.

Outside the Remal clinic after the Israeli air strike on 17 May (MEE/Mohammed al-Hajjar)
Outside the Remal clinic after the Israeli air strike on 17 May (MEE/Mohammed al-Hajjar)

According to local reports, there was no prior warning of the building being targeted. The Remal clinic is one of the most prominent in the area, dealing with a high influx of patients.

One local resident said the area that was struck is well known for housing NGOs and other humanitarian offices. 

"We were sitting peacefully, and were shocked by the sound of what felt like an earthquake when the occupation started destroying buildings, all of which are humanitarian buildings and key offices," the local man said. 

The strike also hit close to the Reuters bureau in Gaza just days after an Israeli strike flattened the local AP and Al Jazeera bureaus as well as a MEE office.