An Israeli air strike on Sunday destroyed significant parts of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, the last remaining functioning medical facility in Gaza City, drawing widespread condemnation and raising renewed concerns about the safety of medical personnel and civilians in the besieged enclave.
According to eyewitness accounts, the strike obliterated the intensive care and surgery departments of the hospital, forcing the evacuation of patients, including those who were still in their beds. Online footage showed large flames and thick smoke rising from the two-storey building shortly after the attack, with patients and hospital staff seen fleeing into the darkness.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in a statement, claimed the strike targeted what it described as a Hamas “command and control center” located within the hospital compound. It further stated that “precautionary measures” had been taken to minimise civilian harm, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and prior warnings.
A local journalist present at the facility reported that Israeli forces had contacted a doctor operating in the emergency department and ordered the immediate evacuation of the building. “All patients and displaced people must go out to a safe distance,” the IDF officer reportedly said, giving only 20 minutes for the evacuation.
No casualties were immediately reported, according to Gaza’s civil emergency services. However, dozens of people—including women and children—who had been sheltering in the hospital courtyard were seen escaping amid the chaos.
The health ministry described the building as “completely destroyed,” stating that the attack had forced the “displacement of patients and hospital staff.” The Hamas-run government media office condemned the strike as “a horrific crime” against a facility housing hundreds of vulnerable civilians.
Al-Ahli Hospital, once a relatively small medical center before the war, had become Gaza City’s last functional hospital after the destruction of Al-Shifa medical complex and other healthcare facilities in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
This is not the first time the hospital has been struck. In October 2023, an explosion at the same site resulted in the deaths of hundreds. Palestinian officials at the time blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel attributed the blast to a misfired rocket by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, an allegation that the group denied.
The renewed targeting of medical infrastructure comes amid Israel’s continued military campaign in Gaza, launched in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, cross-border attack by Hamas, in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 50,933 people have been killed in the territory since the conflict began. The ministry further reported that 1,563 of those deaths have occurred since March 18, when Israel resumed its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
There has been no immediate response from international humanitarian agencies, but the incident is likely to intensify calls for the protection of medical infrastructure and the urgent delivery of aid in the war-torn territory.
