A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The Houthis said in a statement on Telegram they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target that they did not identify. Israel's military said it was investigating, adding that "we emphasize that aerial defense is not hermetic."
"A flash of light, a blow and we fell to the ground. Big mess, broken glasses all over the place," said Bar Katz, a resident of a damaged building.
Israeli strike hits refugee camp
Mourners in Gaza held funerals Saturday for 19 Palestinians — 12 of them children — killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and overnight.
One strike hit a residential building in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven, including five children and one woman, and injuring 16 others, health officials said.
In Gaza City, a strike on a house killed 12, including seven children and two women, according to Al-Ahli Hospital where the bodies were taken. One man cradled a tiny shroud-wrapped body as mourners gathered.
Later Saturday, al-Awda Hospital said an airstrike hit a house in Nuseirat and killed four people including two children, with 14 other people wounded. Israel's military said it was checking the report.
And Saturday night, large explosions could be seen on the Gaza skyline. Five bodies arrived soon afterward at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
More than 45,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people, taking about 250 hostages and triggering the war. Gaza's Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said more than half of fatalities are women and children. Israel says at least a third of the dead are militants.
Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian deaths in Gaza. It says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.
Hospital told to evacuate
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in largely isolated northern Gaza said in an online message late Saturday that Israel's military had told the facility to evacuate.
Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh said that evacuating the intensive care unit, maternity ward and other departments would mean transferring 66 patients.
Israel's military in response to questions said it was "not aware of any strikes in the area of the hospital at this time." There was no immediate response to questions about the reported evacuation order.
Gaza's Health Ministry earlier reported continuous gunfire and Israeli shelling near the hospital, and it issued an urgent appeal for medical and food supplies to be delivered to the facility as Israel's military pressed its latest offensive.
Safiyeh has said the facility faced "severe shortages" including of food and said that requests for essential medical supplies and ways to maintain oxygen, water and electricity systems "have largely gone unmet."
Aid groups have said Israeli military operations and armed gangs have hindered their ability to distribute aid.
The Israeli military organization dealing with humanitarian affairs for Gaza said Saturday it had led an operation delivering thousands of food packages, flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in the north.
