Gaza rescuers said Israeli strikes close to a hospital in the Palestinian territory killed at least 28 people Tuesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the military would enter Gaza "with full force" in the coming days.

The release of 21-year-old Israeli-American Edan Alexander, who had been in Hamas captivity since their October 2023 attack on Israel, offered a brief pause in the fighting on Monday.

But the strikes resumed amid fierce new criticism of Israel's tactics in the war.

Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 28 people were killed in Israeli strikes Tuesday around the European hospital in Khan Yunis. The Israeli military said it hit a Hamas "command and control centre".

AFPTV footage showed large craters gouged into the ground and cracks in the courtyard outside the hospital. A damaged bus was lodged in one hole.

"Everyone inside the hospital -- patients and wounded alike -- was running in fear, some on crutches, others screaming for their children, while others were being dragged on beds," Amro Tabash, a local photojournalist, told AFP.

Earlier, the military said it had struck Hamas militants inside "a command and........

© Al Monitor