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Gazans have told of harrowing scenes after one of the few remaining hospitals in the enclave was hit by Israeli bombing on Saturday night, destroying vital medicine and forcing patients on to the streets.
Warplanes launched a series of devastating air strikes on Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Al Mawasi near Gaza city. There were no reported casualties. The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hamas "command and control centre" operating within the hospital grounds.
The strike was part of a wave of Israeli attacks on Palm Sunday that hit a municipal building, a home and a car, killing at least 21 people. Israel meanwhile said it believed it had intercepted an incoming missile from Yemen, after sirens sounded across the country.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge in hospitals, despite many of the buildings being severely damaged in the fighting.
Dr Munir Al Bursh, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, told The National that the bombing of Al Ahli Baptist Hospital was a critical escalation in a prolonged assault on Gaza’s healthcare system.
“The destruction of one of the hospital’s main buildings, along with damage to several others and the outbreak of fires that rendered entire departments non-functional, is a deliberate Israeli crime aimed at dismantling the strip’s already fragile medical infrastructure,” Dr Al Bursh said.
The building targeted was the hospital’s reception wing, which was levelled, he told The National. All of its beds and medical equipment were lost and cannot be replaced due to an Israeli blockade on Gaza's borders.
Fire engulfed the hospital’s laboratory and pharmacy, both of which contained vital diagnostic equipment and essential medication, Dr Al Bursh added.
“This strike has effectively paralysed medical services in Gaza city,” he said. “Al Ahli was the last remaining functional hospital in northern Gaza and the city itself. Its doctors and staff had managed to preserve limited resources despite months of war. Now, the hospital is out of service and cannot receive any more wounded from the ongoing air strikes.
“This is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which strictly prohibits the targeting of medical facilities and personnel.”
The hospital had been serving more than one million residents in northern Gaza. Hundreds of displaced people were also sheltering in its courtyard. Photos showed massive slabs of concrete and twisted metal scattered across the site after the strike. The blast left a gaping hole in one of the hospital's buildings, with iron doors torn from their hinges.
The Israeli army claimed Hamas militants were operating from inside the hospital compound. Security forces "struck a command and control centre used by Hamas" for planning and executing attacks, the military said.
Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence, called Israeli claims of such “militant activity” baseless.
“This is simply false,” Mr Basal told The National. "There was no military presence at Al Ahli – only patients, medical staff and displaced families. These claims are a cover-up for a heinous war crime. The bombing that destroyed one of its key buildings and removed it from service is utterly unjustifiable."
Mohammed Al Aklouk, 37, from Gaza, had been sheltering with his family in a tent inside the hospital’s yard after fleeing an earlier Israeli offensive in Al Shujaiya. He said the attack was "terrifying, beyond anything you can imagine".
“Around 1.30am, we received a call ordering an evacuation of the hospital," he said. "Panic broke out immediately. Medical staff and civilians rushed to carry patients outside. People were running in all directions. Within 20 minutes, the hospital was bombed and one of the buildings was completely destroyed.
“Fires quickly spread to other parts of the hospital. Why is it being bombed like this, right before the eyes of the world, while no one intervenes?”
The strike on the hospital came a day after Israeli forces seized a key corridor in Gaza and signalled plans to expand their military campaign across the enclave. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that the military had completed its takeover of the "Morag Corridor" between the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. The corridor is part of what he called an "Israeli security zone".
Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes since the start of the war. Al Ahli was heavily damaged by an explosion in its car park on October 17, 2023, in which a number of people were killed. Aid agencies and the UN say only a few of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain partially functioning.
Mr Al Aklouk expressed fear that the attack on Al Ahli could mark the beginning of a broader escalation against healthcare facilities in Gaza. “The world must act to protect Gaza’s remaining medical centres,” he said.
