An Israeli air strike has destroyed a part of al Ahli Arab Hospital, the final totally purposeful hospital in Gaza Metropolis.
Witnesses stated the strike destroyed the intensive care and surgical procedure departments of the hospital.
Video posted on-line appeared to point out enormous flames and smoke rising after missiles hit a two-storey constructing. Individuals, together with some sufferers nonetheless in hospital beds, have been filmed speeding away from the location.
The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) stated it focused the hospital as a result of it contained a “command and management centre utilized by Hamas”. No casualties have been reported, based on Gaza’s civil emergency service.
Nevertheless, one little one, who beforehand suffered a head harm, died on account of “the rushed evacuation course of”, based on a press release from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which is affiliated to the hospital. The hospital is run by the Anglican Church in Jerusalem.
Surrounding buildings, together with St Philip’s church, have been additionally broken, the diocese stated.
It added that it was “appalled” on the bombing of the hospital “on the morning of Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week”.
Gaza’s Hamas-run well being ministry stated al Ahli Arab Hospital’s constructing was “utterly destroyed”, resulting in the “pressured displacement of sufferers and hospital employees”.
The IDF stated it had taken steps “to mitigate hurt to civilians or to the hospital compound, together with issuing superior warnings within the space of the fear infrastructure, using exact munitions, and aerial surveillance”.
A neighborhood journalist, who was working on the hospital, stated the IDF had phoned a health care provider who was working within the emergency division and requested them to evacuate the hospital instantly.
“All sufferers and displaced individuals should exit to a secure distance,” the officer reportedly stated.
“You will have solely 20 minutes to go away.”
Footage on social media confirmed employees and sufferers leaving the constructing whereas it was nonetheless darkish outdoors.
Dozens of Palestinians, together with girls and kids, have been additionally seen fleeing from a courtyard contained in the hospital the place that they had been looking for shelter.
Khalil Bakr informed BBC Arabic’s Gaza Lifeline programme that he and his three injured daughters had fled the hospital with solely a few minutes to spare earlier than it was bombed.
“It was terrifying,” he stated. “The entire scenario was troublesome as a result of I’ve already been injured. And as for my three daughters, one had her leg amputated, the opposite had her hand amputated, and the third had her physique stuffed with platinum plates.”
He added: “Solely two minutes separated us from demise.”
Al Ahli Arab – a small medical facility earlier than the warfare – was the one totally purposeful hospital in Gaza Metropolis, following the destruction of Al-Shifa medical complicated and different hospitals within the northern a part of the Strip.
In its assertion, the Hamas-run authorities media workplace condemned the assault.
Israel was “committing a horrific crime by concentrating on al Ahli Arab, which homes a whole lot of sufferers and medical employees”, it stated.
UK Overseas Minister David Lammy stated such “deplorable assaults should finish”, including: “Israel’s assaults on medical services have comprehensively degraded entry to healthcare in Gaza.”
In October 2023, an explosion on the identical hospital killed a whole lot of individuals.
Palestinian officers blamed an Israeli strike for the blast. Israel stated the blast was brought on by a failed rocket launch by the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which denied accountability.
The Israeli army launched a marketing campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border assault on 7 October 2023, wherein about 1,200 Israelis have been killed and 251 others have been taken hostage.
Greater than 50,933 individuals have been killed in Gaza since then, based on the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
Of these, 1,563 have been killed since 18 March, when Israel restarted its offensive within the Gaza Strip, the ministry stated.
