GAZA CITY, Palestine 

At least seven people were killed and 14 others injured by Israeli sniper fire inside a hospital in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza, according to the Health Ministry on Monday.

“Israeli snipers are encircling the Nasser Medical Complex and shooting at any moving object inside,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

On Sunday, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) voiced deep concern over the situation inside the hospital amid an Israeli siege around the facility.

"We’re deeply concerned about the safety of patients and health personnel due to the intensifying hostilities in the vicinity of the hospital," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

"Health MUST be protected at all times," he added.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian resistance group Hamas, killing at least 28,340 people and injuring 67,984 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

In late 2023, South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

In its interim ruling in January, the UN court ruled that South Africa’s claims are plausible. It ordered provisional measures for Israel’s government to desist from genocidal acts, and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara