Israeli forces have bombed al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, the largest remaining functioning hospital in northern Gaza.
Critically ill patients were left on the street after fleeing the attack in the early hours of Sunday morning.
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.
In a statement, the Diocese of Jerusalem said the twin strikes had demolished the hospital’s two-storey Genetic Laboratory and damaged the Pharmacy and the Emergency Department buildings. The attack also resulted in other collateral damage to the surrounding buildings, including the church building of St. Philip’s, it added.
“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 statement said.
In October 2023, Palestinian health officials said nearly 500 people had been killed in an Israeli air attack on the al-Ahli Hospital. Israel attributed the explosion at the facility to a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an allegation denied 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 Media Office in Gaza, Israel has targeted 36 hospitals since October 2023.
In a statement later on Sunday, 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.
Hamas called 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, Israel’s main ally, responsible for the “brutal crime”.
‘Dramatic escalation’
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, said the bombing had left “critically ill patients, including those in the surgical and emergency units, are now left without shelter or oxygen”.
He added there were fears some patients could die because of the loss of medical care.
Razan al-Nahhas, an emergency doctor who previously worked at al-Ahli Hospital, told Al Jazeera 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, in central Gaza.
The attack came after Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,560 people since Israel broke a fragile 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 its offensive.
In its latest update on Sunday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said at least 50,944 Palestinians have now been confirmed and 116,156 wounded since the start of the war. Israel began attacking Gaza after an estimated 1,139 people were killed during a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, with more than 200 also taken captive.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had encircled Rafah, in the south of Gaza, cutting it off from the rest of the territory. It also ordered residents in Khan Younis and Nuseirat to leave immediately, warning of imminent attacks “with great force”.
The forced displacement orders came as Hamas said it had fired three rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory. The Israeli military said its air force intercepted all three rockets. No casualties were reported.
