A small chapel in Gaza City offers sanctuary to Palestinians, as Israeli strikes wipe out entire families in the north

CNN
 -- 
A small, curly-haired boy walks wearily through the chapel of St. Philip, in Gaza City, northern Gaza, as Israeli drones whir overhead."We were not able to sleep all night long. This is on top of all the struggles that we are facing ... Our houses have been destroyed. Our children have been injured, amputated and martyred. Where can we go? Palestinians are 'defenseless'
A prominent doctor and his daughter, a human rights lawyer, as well as an international football referee were among at least 118 Palestinians killed in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health in Gaza on Wednesday. Some of those casualties were concentrated in central Gaza, where even survivors could not mourn the deceased. At least six people were killed in an apparent airstrike on a car full of people traveling to the funeral of relatives killed in another strike just hours earlier. They were killed in the third of three apparent airstrikes in Deir al-Balah overnight, after one that killed at least 20 people in a residential building belonging to the Khattab family, and another that killed at least 15 people in a building belonging to the Baghdadi family. The six people killed in the car were relatives of the Khattab family on their way to funerals. Then on Tuesday, at least 15 people were killed in air strikes on Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Palestinian health officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Aid workers and survivors of the air strike descended on the hospital in Deir al-Balah, where relatives cried out as injured Palestinians lay on the blood-stained floor. CNN footage from inside Al-Aqsa hospital showed an elderly woman falling to her knees beside a stretcher carrying a limp, wounded child. He wore a purple Spider-Man t-shirt. The video then shows the woman looking at another injured person, asking, "Ibrahim."This hall now is filled with injured people. Israel's bombardment and severe restrictions on aid entering the strip have diminished critical food, fuel, water and medical supplies, decimated the health care system and exposed the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to mass displacement and deadly disease
As of February 14, only 11 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are partially functioning, while three are at minimum functionality, according to the humanitarian organization Medical Aid for Palestinians. On Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its Al-Amal Hospital came under direct assaults. Israeli forces also targeted the hospital's third floor and burned two rooms, while members of the PRCS team and a delegation from the UN's agency for Palestine refugees were inside the hospital's courtyard. Two eyewitnesses at the hospital told CNN "they did not see any militants in the hospital."The IDF said on Wednesday and Thursday it used airstrikes and fighter jets "targeting terrorists" in the neighborhood. Thousands of Palestinians were being forced to evacuate from several neighborhoods, seeking refuge toward the west of Gaza City, especially around Al-Shifa Hospital. Pictures circulating on social media on Tuesday showed a flyer issued by the IDF ordering civilians to evacuate the Al-Zaytoun and Turkoman neighborhoods on the southern edge of Gaza City, telling them to go to the recommended "humanitarian zones" through Salah Eddin Street.A hospital can only lose its protected status if it is used by an armed group for acts that are considered "harmful to the enemy." But, even then, patients and doctors inside are still protected by the principle of proportionality. A warning must be given, and time for safe evacuation, before carrying out an attack. The IDF claims Hamas operates out of hospitals, calling it a violation of "the strict prohibition under international law against using medical facilities as shields for military operations."The Israeli army launched artillery, rocket fire and airstrikes in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, on Tuesday, unleashing destruction and causing casualties."There is nothing left here."