'We Are In Complete Shock': Israel Bombs Last Fully Functioning Hospital in North Gaza
"Once again we repeat: Patients, health workers, and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Cease-fire," the WHO chief said.
Israeli forces bombed the last fully functioning hospital in northern Gaza early Sunday morning, killing at least three people, including a 12-year-old boy.
The missile attack on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City is the latest in what has been described as Israel's "campaign of genocide" to systematically attack Gaza's healthcare infrastructure, which has damaged 33 out of Gaza's 36 hospitals.
The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which manages al-Ahli hospital, said in a statement Sunday that it condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms."
"The Diocese of Jerusalem is appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023—and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week," the diocese said. "We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions. We pray and call for the end of this horrific war and the suffering of so many."
According to the diocese, patients and health workers were only given 20 minutes to evacuate before two missiles struck, destroying the hospital's genetic laboratory and damaging the pharmacy, emergency department, and the neighboring St. Philip’s church.
"We are in complete shock," Dr. Yousef Al-Haddad, a physiotherapy specialist at the hospital, told Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). "As I speak to you, I'm surrounded by piles of rubble and destruction. The laboratory was the only one in Gaza that provided a range of tests unavailable in any other hospital—and now it's been entirely lost. Emergency and reception services were shared between the al-Ahli Hospital and al-Shifa Hospital, with our hospital taking the lead as it was the only hospital equipped with a CT scanner. Now, following last night's attack, these services have entirely ceased. This will undoubtedly increase the pressure on al-Shifa Hospital, which is already operating with a smaller capacity."
In the rushed evacuation, critically ill patients had to be moved into the streets in the cold. While no one died in blast itself, the hurried evacuation resulted in three deaths, including that of a 12-year-old boy who was being treated for a head injury.
"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," Razan al-Nahhas, an emergency doctor who had previously worked at the hospital, toldAl Jazeera. "And they [the patients] arrived dead."
A Red Crescent doctor toldMiddle East Eye that finding space for the evacuated patients could be difficult.
"All the hospitals are overcrowded and are unprepared for providing full medical services, this will surely reflect on the health of the wounded, the patients and it could result in the loss of their lives, the loss of their body parts, or could cause long-term disability," he said.
"Faith leaders in our nation and worldwide must speak out against the war of extermination being waged by Israel using the support of the U.S. government and with American taxpayer dollars."
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media that 50 patients had been moved to other hospitals, while 40 were too ill or injured to relocate.
"Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law," Gheybreyesus continued. "Attacks on healthcare must stop. Once again we repeat: Patients, health workers, and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Cease-fire."
MAP called on the international community "to take immediate action to protect Gaza's hospitals and medical personnel."
"There must be an immediate and permanent cease-fire, an end to all arms transfers to Israel, and full accountability for repeated violations of international law, including the deliberate targeting of hospitals," the group wrote. "Israel must be held to its legal obligation to repair the destruction it has caused to Gaza's health infrastructure and allow unimpeded humanitarian access in line with the orders of the International Court of Justice."
Al-Ahli Hospital first grabbed international attention early in the war, when a bombing in October 2023 killed hundreds of people. At the time, Israel denied that it had launched the attack. However, since then, it has attacked the hospital four times including on Sunday.
Religious groups also condemned the timing of the attack on Palm Sunday, a sacred celebration for Christians in Palestine and around the world.
The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine said, "The attack, carried out on Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, constitutes a grave violation of religious sanctity and fundamental principles of international humanitarian law."
"The far-right Israeli government has shown time and again it is willing to violate religious norms, whether targeting Palestinian Christians or Muslims, in its genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement. "Faith leaders in our nation and worldwide must speak out against the war of extermination being waged by Israel using the support of the U.S. government and with American taxpayer dollars. We call on the Trump administration to similarly condemn this attack."
Israel, for its part, said that the hospital was targeted because it was a "command and control" center for the militant group Hamas, according to Middle East Eye. However, it did not provide any evidence.
The hospital bombing was only one of several attacks carried out by Israel in Gaza on Sunday, which together killed at least 21 people, The Associated Press reported.
It also followed Israel's claim on Saturday that it had succeeded in isolating Rafah in the south from the rest of the Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera. Israel had promised to cordon off the city earlier in the week.
As of Sunday, the Gaza's Health Ministry said that Israel's assault on Gaza since October 7, 2023 had killed at least 50,944 Palestinians and injured 116,156. More than 1,500 of those deaths have occurred since Israel ended a tentative cease-fire on March 18.
