GAZA CITY, Palestine 

The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said Monday that the Tel el-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City is exposed to an Israeli “genocide.” 

"The (Israeli) occupation annihilated all the side streets (in Tel el-Hawa). We can't reach the area. What's happening there is a genocide," Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the civil defense, said at a press conference.

"Hundreds of bombs were fired on Tel el-Hawa," he said, adding Israeli warplanes heavily targeted the surrounding areas of Al-Quds Hospital.

"When we approached to help, we were attacked (by Israeli warplanes), so we were forced to leave the area," said Basal.

Meanwhile, the Gaza-based government media office said in a statement that what is happening in Tel el-Hawa and around Al-Quds Hospital is "a full-fledged war crime that requires urgent action by the international community."

Al-Quds Hospital’s director said in earlier statements that the Israeli army demanded several times that the hospital be evacuated but it rejected to do so.

The Israeli army has widened its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since a surprise offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

The Palestinian death toll from Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip has climbed to 8,306, the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave said Monday.

“The fatalities include 3,457 children and 2,136 women, while more than 21,048 people were injured,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a news conference in Gaza City.

More than 1,538 Israelis have been killed in the conflict.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar