Israeli troops have bombed the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, the biggest functional facility left in northern Gaza, in an early morning raid on Sunday. The attack abandoned critically ill patients on the streets as they ran away from the mayhem.
Hospital personnel started to evacuate patients following a warning given by an individual who said they were acting on behalf of Israeli security just minutes before the missiles hit. The bombing, during which the hospital was treating dozens of patients, has been condemned by Gaza officials.
The Jerusalem Diocese informed that the attack leveled the two-storey Genetic Laboratory of the hospital and inflicted damage on the Pharmacy and Emergency Department. Other nearby buildings, such as St. Philip’s church, also received heavy damage. The diocese was outraged by the recurring attacks on the hospital, and this is the fifth such incident since the outbreak of conflict in 2023, on the day of Palm Sunday.
In October 2023, a previous airstrike on al-Ahli Hospital caused almost 500 deaths, with Israel attributing the blast to a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired—a charge the organization denied.
The Israeli military defended the bombing of recent times, claiming the hospital was used as a “command and control” center by Hamas. In an official statement, they said steps were taken to prevent civilian casualties.
But the Government Media Office in Gaza denounced the attack as a clear violation of international law, stressing that al-Ahli Hospital is an essential health facility. Hamas declared that the bombing was “a new war crime,” blaming the United States for backing it.
The attack comes after it was reported that Israeli attacks have claimed not less than 1,560 lives since fighting escalated on March 18, with more than 500 of them being children. With military campaigns intensifying, Rafah in the south of Gaza has been besieged, isolating it from the rest of the enclave.
