Israeli attack on tent camp outside hospital in Gaza kills at least 4, injures dozens | PBS News

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A weekend of death and destruction gave way to another day of carnage Monday in Gaza and Lebanon as Israeli forces struck multiple sites in both places. Israel suffered its own losses as troops came under fire from Hezbollah. But much of the focus fell on Gaza and an Israeli attack outside a major hospital. Leila Molana-Allen reports. A warning, images and accounts in this story are disturbing.

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

A weekend of death and destruction gave way to another day of carnage in Gaza and Lebanon, as Israeli forces struck multiple sites in both places, killing dozens. Israel suffered its own losses as its troops in the north came under fire from Hezbollah.

Amna Nawaz:

That drone attack killed four Israeli soldiers, but much focus fell again on Gaza and an Israeli attack outside a major hospital in Gaza's north.

That is where Leila Molana-Allen begins our coverage tonight.

And a warning:

Images and accounts in this story are disturbing.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Burned alive in a hospital bed, an I.V. that was supposed to heal became shackles. Last night, in Central Gaza's Deir al Balah, screams echoed through the night, as an Israeli airstrike hit a makeshift tent village outside Al-Aqsa Hospital, setting the tents and part of the building ablaze.

Auoni Khattab, Displaced Gazan (through interpreter):

There were people trapped inside the fire and we were unable to pull them out. A human being burned alive in front of your eyes, and you can't rescue him. He turned to ashes.

Leila Molana-Allen:

At least four people were killed and dozens injured. Today, as the smoke cleared, doctors attempted to tend their burns without painkillers or ointments. Survivors sifted through the rubble of their temporary homes.

Uhm Mahmoud Wadhi, Displaced Gazan (through interpreter):

Everything has burned, everything. As you see, I'm a mother of seven daughters. Where shall I go? My tent has collapsed, destroyed. All our clothes and belongings are gone. Who should we speak to? Where is the safety? We are calling on all countries, the whole world, to stand by our side and stop the war on us. We are exhausted. We have had enough.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Nearby, in Nuseirat, a night of horror for displaced families, as the IDF struck an UNRWA school where families were seeking shelter. The attack killed at least 22 people, including 15 children.

Fatima Al Ajab, Displaced Gazan (through interpreter):

(through interpreter): They were sleeping unarmed. They're innocent. This is little Rahad's blanket here. She was only 2 years old. This morning, they removed their bodies, but the fire was still everywhere. Then there was another wave of airstrikes. The injured and dead were everywhere.

We have had enough of this. Have mercy on us. They took their childhoods away. They took our smiles away. They have taken away every beautiful detail in our lives.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Fatima's son says all he wants is freedom from this war. He doesn't fear death anymore. He's seen too much.

Abdullah Al Ajab, Displaced Gazan (through interpreter):

The fire was burning for three hours while we were carrying the dead and collecting their cut-off fingers, which we put in a box and took them to the hospital. The children here are dying. Everyone is going to die. We're not going to keep going from place to place. At least we will die in our country.

Leila Molana-Allen:

In Israel last night, an IDF base south of Haifa was hit by a Hezbollah drone. The strike killed four soldiers and wounded dozens of others.

Even as the United States sends a new missile defense system to Israel, Israelis worry their air defense can't handle the increasing threat from drones.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Spokesperson, Israeli Defense Forces (through interpreter):

We are required to provide better protection. We will investigate this incident, learn and improve. Our mission is to better protect our soldiers and citizens of Israel.

Leila Molana-Allen:

As IDF troops push further across the border into south Lebanon, Israeli soldiers posted videos of themselves inside Lebanese homes.

After multiple attacks on UNIFIL bases by Israeli troops left several U.N. peacekeepers wounded, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his demand that peacekeepers withdraw.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister (through interpreter):

It is time for you to remove UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the fighting areas. The IDF has repeatedly asked for this and has been met with repeated refusals, all aimed at providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists. Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah.

Leila Molana-Allen:

The U.N. maintains they must stay under international law and that it's incumbent on Israeli and Lebanese forces to ensure their safety.

The IDF demanded the evacuation of a further 20 towns and villages. Fully a third of the country is now under fire. Yesterday, a century-old souk and mosque in Nabatiyeh were razed to the ground; 2,300 people in Lebanon are now dead, nearly 11,000 injured.

The IDF says it will tell Lebanese when they can return, but many of their homes and entire villages have been flattened and the bombing campaign is escalating across the country. In the past few days, Christian towns in the north have been targeted for the first time, while, in the capital, the strike zone continues to expand often without warning.

Mohammad was left reeling after the streets housing his family home and his gym business in a calm central Beirut neighborhood were hit within five minutes of each other. The area had become home to dozens of displaced families who fled from the south. His family survived, but many in their building didn't.

Mohammad Salamoun, Beirut Resident (through interpreter):

We're all families here, no weapons or Hezbollah leaders or anything. I don't know what they're thinking that they could kill us like this. When you see people dead in body parts all over the place, you don't know how to feel, especially after the terror we experienced after the strike.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Some have decided they can't take it anymore. Nearly 100,000 Lebanese have fled to Syria, taking their chances with a stagnant civil war there over an escalating one here.

After one airstrike too many, Widad and her teenage daughter left home with what they could carry.

Widad Lakhal, Displaced From Lebanon (through interpreter):

My heart is in Lebanon. We will definitely return to Lebanon. I consider my country to be Lebanon, frankly, but fear. One can't trust Israel. It targets all the places.

Leila Molana-Allen:

As the conflict spreads, this region is no longer boiling. It is burning.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Beirut.

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Leila Molana-Allen Leila Molana-Allen

Leila Molana-Allen is a roving Special Correspondent for the Newshour, reporting from across the wider Middle East and Africa. She has been based in the region, in Beirut and Baghdad, for a decade.