Israeli forces have bombed the Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City, the largest functional hospital in northern Gaza.
Seriously sick patients were left in the street after fled the attack at the early hours of Sunday morning.
According to the Reuters news agency, the hospital staff began to evacuate the building patients after a man said they had received a call from someone who identified Israeli security, shortly before the attack.
The Gaza authorities condemned the bombings, noting that the Al-Ahli hospital was treating hundreds of patients when it was affected by at least two missiles.
In a press release, the diocese of Jerusalem said that twin strikes had demolished the hospital’s two -story genetic laboratory and damaged the pharmacy and emergency buildings. The attack has also led to other collateral damage to the surrounding buildings, including the construction of the Saint-Philipie church, he added.
“The diocese of Jerusalem is dismayed at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the start of the war in 2023 – and this time on the morning of Sunday of Palm and the start of Holy Week,” said the statement.
In October 2023, Palestinian health officials said nearly 500 people were killed in an Israeli air attack on the Al-Ahli hospital. Israel has attributed the explosion in the installation to a failed rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic jihad, an allegation refused by the armed group.
‘New war crime’
Israel has repeatedly attacked hospitals in the Palestinian enclave with impunity throughout its devastating war – according to the government’s media office in Gaza, Israel has targeted 36 hospitals since October 2023.
In a statement later on Sunday, the Israeli army said that the hospital had been targeted because it was used as a “command and control” center by “the terrorist organization Hamas”. In an article on X, he said that “measures have been taken to reduce the risk of damage to civilians and the hospital, especially in vanger in the region”.
Israel said in the past that attacks on civil infrastructure, including hospitals, are necessary to target armed fighters. However, he did not provide proof to support his claims.
The Gaza Government Media Bureau described the attack as a “blatant violation of all international charters and Geneva conventions prohibiting targeting of medical facilities”.
He said in a statement that the Al-Ahli hospital was “one of the oldest and most important health institutions in Gaza, describing the attack on the attack as a” heinous “and” terrible “crime.
Hamas called on the attack on the hospital as a “new war crime” and said that the Israeli army had no respect for humanitarian laws and standards. He held the United States, the main ally of Israel, responsible for “brutal crime”.
“Dramatic escalation”
Tareq Abu Azzoum of Tel Aviv Tribune, reported by Deir El-Balah, in the center of Gaza, said that the bombings had left “seriously ill patients, including those of surgical and emergency units, are now left homeless or oxygen”.
He added that there were fears that some patients could die due to the loss of medical care.
Razan al-Nahhas, an emergency doctor who previously worked at Al-Ahli hospital, at least three people told Tel Aviv Tribune, including a 12-year-old boy suffering from head injury, were reported dead after forced evacuation.
“It was under oxygen, just like the other two patients, and the family mainly worked with them in a neighboring hospital, a very small establishment without capacity for the number of patients who go to them. And they (patients) arrived dead,” said Al-Nahhas, who is in the city of Deir El-Balah, in the center of Gaza.
The attack came after the Gaza Ministry of Health said the Israeli attacks killed at least 1,560 people since Israel broke a fragile ceasefire with Hamas on March 18. According to the spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense Mahmoud Basal, at least 500 children have been among the dead since Israel resumed his offensive.
In its last update on Sunday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that at least 50,944 Palestinians had been confirmed and 116,156 injured since the start of the war. Israel began to attack Gaza after 1,139 people were killed in an attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 also captivated.
On Saturday, the Israeli army said that it had surrounded Rafah, in southern Gaza, cutting it from the rest of the territory. He also ordered residents of Khan Younis and Nuseirat to leave immediately, warning against imminent attacks “with great strength”.
Forced displacement orders came when Hamas said it had drawn three rockets from the Gaza Strip to Israeli territory. The Israeli army said its air force had intercepted the three rockets. No victim has been reported.
