In the early hours of Sunday, an Israeli airstrike struck the Al-Ahli hospital—also known as the Baptist or Ahli Arab Hospital—in Gaza City, causing major damage to key medical infrastructure, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
This development follows Israel’s recent military advances in the war-torn Gaza Strip, where they’ve taken control of a strategic corridor and announced plans to widen their offensive. While there were no immediate reports of casualties, the attack has drawn renewed concern over the safety of medical facilities in the region.
The airstrike, which reportedly occurred just minutes after Israeli forces ordered the building’s evacuation, destroyed the hospital’s surgery unit and oxygen station used in intensive care. Health officials say this move further cripples an already strained healthcare system.
Since the war erupted on October 7, 2023, hospitals in Gaza—despite being protected under international humanitarian law—have come under fire multiple times. The Israeli military claims that Hamas uses hospitals as command centres and stores weapons in tunnels underneath them, a charge consistently denied by Hamas.
Al-Ahli hospital has previously been hit. On October 17, 2023, a deadly explosion in its car park killed scores of civilians. While militant groups blamed Israel, Israeli authorities denied responsibility, citing a misfired rocket from Islamic Jihad—a position supported by the U.S.
As of March 28, the World Health Organization reported that only 22 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, worsening the humanitarian crisis. The Hamas press office accuses Israel of systematically attacking or disabling hospitals across the strip.
The latest update from Gaza’s health ministry on Saturday put the Palestinian death toll at 1,574 since the March 18 ceasefire collapse, bringing total deaths since the war began to a staggering 50,944. The conflict began after Hamas’s incursion into Israel in October 2023, which left 1,218 people dead, mostly civilians.
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