Gaza's civil defence agency has said that Israeli strikes killed at least 28 people in the area surrounding the European Hospital in Khan Younis, where the Israeli military claimed it hit a Hamas "command and control centre".
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that "according to our crews on the ground, 28 martyrs have been recovered from the area" surrounding the hospital in the south of the Palestinian territory.
Ahmad Radwan, civil defence media officer in southern Gaza, had previously put the initial toll at seven dead and 30 injured "following the occupation's bombing of the vicinity and courtyard of the European Hospital".
The Israeli military claimed in a statement that they had struck "Hamas terrorists in a command and control centre located in an underground terrorist infrastructure site beneath the European hospital in Khan Younis".
"The Hamas terrorist organisation continues to use hospitals in the Gaza for terrorist activity, demonstrating its cynical and brutal use of the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings," it claimed.
"It was an utterly catastrophic scene," Amro Tabash, a local photojournalist, told AFP.
"Everyone inside the hospital - patients and wounded alike - was running in fear, some on crutches, others screaming for their children, while others were being dragged on beds," he said.
According to the International Federation of Journalists, at least 160 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel's war.
Mr Aslih headed the Alam24 news outlet and worked as a freelance photojournalist. He had previously worked with several western news organisations.
Mr Bassal said that "the Israeli army bombed the surgery building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at dawn on Tuesday, killing journalist Hassan Aslih".
Officials in Gaza put the number at 215, and said Israel deliberately targets journalists.
Israel denies targeting journalists and claims it tries to avoid harm to civilians.
Earlier, the Israeli military also claimed it had struck Hamas militants "operating from within a command and control centre" at Nasser Hospital, also in Khan Younis.
The health ministry in Gaza said the strike killed two people and wounded several others.
Israel resumed its attacks on Gaza on 18 March after a two-month truce in its war.
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IDF entering Gaza 'with full force' soon - Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military will enter Gaza "with full force" in the coming days, vowing to "complete the operation" which "means destroying Hamas".
"In the very coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation. Completing the operation means defeating Hamas. It means destroying Hamas," Mr Netanyahu said.
"There will be no situation where we stop the war. A temporary ceasefire might happen, but we are going all the way."
He also claimed that his government was working to find countries who may be willing to take in Palestinians from Gaza.
"We've set up an administration that will allow them (Gaza residents) to leave but... we need countries willing to take them in. That's what we're working on right now," Mr Netanyahu told a group of soldiers wounded in action during meeting in his office, the statement said, adding that the prime minister estimated that "over 50% will leave" if given the option.
Some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's retaliatory war has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and destroyed much of the enclave.
A blockade on aid supplies since 2 March has left the population at critical risk of famine, according to a UB-backed monitor.
A senior World Health Organization official warned that hunger and malnutrition could have a lasting impact on "an entire generation".
UN describes 'starvation campaign' on Gaza
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, has described Israel's attack on Gaza as a "starvation campaign."
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime programme, he said that the UN has received "report after report" of parents watching children "wither away and die in their arms."
Mr Fakhri said that the impact of the attack on Gaza will last for generations to come.
"If the bombs and bullets stop tomorrow, we know that death from hunger disease and malnutrition will continue to unfold for months," he said.
He said that the UN knows from humanitarian workers based in Gaza, that Israel’s claim that Hamas is the reason that aid is not reaching civilians is "not true."
"The main reason civilians are not receiving aid is because Israel continues to either deny or restrict aid for over 19 months."
Mr Fakhri said that the restriction and denial of aid is happening at the borders into Gaza by Israeli forces.
"We also know that Israel attacks humanitarian convoys, we’ve seen a record number of deaths of humanitarian workers, more so than any modern war."
He said that figures published by the Hamas-run health ministry on the number of children who have died is an underestimation.
Israel has sealed off Gaza since early March when it resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas following the collapse of a ceasefire deal, during which aid agencies had delivered thousands of trucks of aid.
