Gaza rescuers said Israeli attacks close to the European Hospital killed at least 28 people, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the military would enter Gaza “with full force” in the coming days.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 28 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Tuesday around the hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The rescue organisation said in a short statement that the bodies of some of the victims could not be recovered because they were “scattered around the hospital area” from the intensity of the Israeli bombardment.

After reports indicated a second round of Israeli missiles hit the area to deter rescue operations, the agency confirmed the Israeli army “deliberately targeted anyone who tried to reach” the wounded.

The Israeli military said it struck a “Hamas command centre” beneath the hospital, without providing any evidence.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it carried out “a targeted attack” on the Nasser Medical Complex, also in Khan Younis, killing two people, including Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaih.

Gaza’s Government Media Office confirmed the killing of Eslaih, who was receiving treatment at the hospital’s burn unit for severe injuries sustained during an April 7 Israeli strike on a media tent located next to the hospital.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 52,908 Palestinians and wounded 119,721, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Government Media Office updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.

An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 others were taken captive.