Israeli forces have bombed al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, the largest remaining functioning hospital in northern Gaza, destroying its emergency unit, main entrance and medical oxygen supplies.
Critically ill patients were left on the street after fleeing the attack in the early hours of Sunday morning, with one doctor reporting that at least three people, including a child who was on oxygen, died due to the rushed evacuation.
According to the Reuters news agency, the hospital staff began evacuating patients from the building after a man said he received a call from someone identifying himself with Israeli security, shortly before the attack.
Authorities in Gaza have condemned the bombing, noting that al-Ahli Hospital was treating hundreds of patients when it was hit by at least two missiles. About 500 people were killed when Israel bombed the hospital in October 2023.
Israel has repeatedly attacked hospitals in the Palestinian enclave with impunity throughout its devastating war. The Gaza Media Office says Israel has targeted 36 hospitals since it launched its war on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli military said the hospital was targeted because it was being used as a “command and control” centre by the “terrorist organization Hamas”. In a post on X, it said that “steps were taken to reduce the chance of harm to civilians and the hospital, including providing early warning in the area….”
Israel has in the past claimed that attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, are necessary to target armed fighters. It has, however, not provided proof to back its claims.
The Government Media Office in Gaza described the attack as a “flagrant violation of all international charters and the Geneva Conventions prohibiting the targeting of medical facilities”.
It said in a statement that al-Ahli Hospital was “one of the oldest and most important health institutions” in Gaza, describing the bombing as a “heinous” and “terrible” crime.
The Palestinian group Hamas described the attack on the hospital as a “new war crime”, and said the Israeli military had no regard for humanitarian laws and norms. It held the United States responsible for the “brutal crime”.
‘Dramatic escalation’
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, in northern Gaza, said the bombing was a “dramatic escalation”.
“Critically ill patients, including those in the surgical and emergency units, are now left without shelter or oxygen,” he said.
“Some, in fact, may die, not just from the attack itself, but from the loss, now, of this medical care.”
Razan al-Nahhas, an emergency doctor currently working in central Gaza, who previously worked at al-Ahli Hospital, said at least three people, including a 12-year-old boy with a head injury, have been reported dead following the forced evacuation.
“He was on oxygen, as were the two other patients, and the family basically walked with them to a nearby hospital, a very small facility with no capacity for the number of patients heading their way. And they [the patients] arrived dead,” said al-Nahhas, who is in the city of Deir el-Balah.
Al-Nahhas said the attack damaged “the lab, the pharmacy, the emergency department, all the oxygen tanks” at al-Ahli Hospital.
“There are so many patients on the streets,” she added, “I can’t even imagine the scene of patients and their family members scattered in the streets, trying to find their way to a place for medical care.”
“They’re very high-risk patients that need to be closely monitored, not lying or scrambling in the streets trying to find their way to another medical facility.”
“It’s quite horrific, and it’s really left the people in that region with no place to go at this point. And it’s an area that the surrounding areas are very heavily targeted, unfortunately,” she said, referring to Israel’s continued bombardment of northern Gaza.
The attack came after Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,560 people in Gaza, since they broke their ceasefire with Hamas on March 18. According to Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal, at least 500 children are among the dead since Israel resumed the offensive last month.
A total of 50,933 people have been killed and 116,045 wounded since the start of the war in October 2023, the ministry added in its latest daily update.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel ordered residents of southern Khan Younis and central Nuseirat to leave immediately, warning of imminent attacks “with great force”. Also on Saturday, the Israeli military said it had encircled Rafah, cutting it off from the rest of Gaza.
The forced displacement orders came as Hamas said it had fired three rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory on Saturday.
The Israeli military said its air force intercepted all three rockets. No casualties were reported.
