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Rabat — Israel struck the al-Ahli al-Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza overnight on April 13, further exacerbating an already catastrophic situation in an enclave where medical infrastructure has been decimated with a total blockade in place.
Gaza’s Civil Defense agency did not report direct casualties from the strike, but it confirmed the destruction of the hospital’s surgery building and the oxygen generation station for intensive care units.
Local sources stated that Israeli missiles targeted the hospital’s main reception building, severely damaging or completely destroying critical departments, including the emergency care ward, laboratory, and pharmacy.
According to Gaza’s Civil Defense, the attack occurred just “minutes” after the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ordered the evacuation of “patients, the injured, and their companions.”
Middle East Eye reported that eyewitnesses said the IOF issued a bomb threat approximately 18 minutes before the evacuation order, forcing critically ill patients to be rushed out without proper care. This led to the deaths of three patients, including a child being treated for head injuries.
Such an assault would have likely dominated headlines for weeks had it occurred elsewhere in the world, but it has received minimal attention, becoming disturbingly normalized since Israel’s intensified assault on Gaza began in October 2023.
The Palestinian Health Ministry issued a statement noting that the IOF has “deliberately destroyed 34 hospitals putting them out of service as part of a systematic plan to eliminate what remains of the health sector in the Gaza Strip.”
The ministry condemned the ongoing international complacency that has made this genocide possible, with Israel’s blatant and repeated targetting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.
“We condemn this heinous crime and hold the ‘Israeli’ occupation, the US administration and countries complicit in the genocide – such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France – fully responsible for this heinous crime,” added the ministry.
The IOF along with its internal intelligence agency Shin Bet, later claimed that Hamas operated a “command and control complex” within the al-Ahli hospital, a baseless accusation Israel has repeatedly regurgitated since October 2023.
Despite these claims being consistently refuted, they have been widely echoed by mainstream media and Western governments, effectively enabling and justifying further attacks on civilian infrastructure by Israel.
A recent United Nations report confirmed that in the 224 airstrikes on residential buildings, 36 of these strikes killed only women and children over the past three weeks alone.
The report also documented 23 instances in which civilians were directed to so-called “safe zones,” only for those same areas to be bombed afterwards.
Earlier this week, the Palestinian Health Ministry warned that Gaza’s hospitals and medical centers are facing “dangerous and unprecedented” shortages of essential medications due to Israel’s ongoing blockade — now in place for more than 40 days.
According to the ministry, 37% of essential medicines, 59% of medical supplies, and 54% of cancer and blood disease treatments are completely out of stock.
