KEY POINTS
- Israeli air strike hit a hospital in Gaza
- Israeli military claimed it targeted a Hamas command centre at the hospital
- Gaza Civil Defence said the strike occurred minutes after an Israeli warning to evacuate
- Qatar condemned the strike as a war crime and urged international intervention
- Gaza’s Health Ministry reported 11 more deaths Sunday
- Since October 2023, at least 50,944 people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza
- Israel says it now controls the “Morag axis” to expand military operations
GAZA CITY, Palestine: An Israeli air strike on Sunday severely damaged the Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza, one of the few remaining partially functional healthcare facilities in the besieged Palestinian territory, health officials said.
The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted a Hamas command and control centre operating from within the hospital compound.
The strike caused significant damage to the surgery building, the pharmacy, the central laboratory, and the hospital’s only reception area, forcing the facility out of service.
The attack left a large crater in the compound and triggered panic as patients, medical personnel, and displaced civilians rushed to evacuate.
Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said the bombing occurred “minutes after the Israeli army’s warning to evacuate the building of patients, the injured and their companions.”
Deliberate attacks on Gaza hospitals
The hospital’s church, which had been sheltering displaced civilians, also sustained damage in the attack.
Dr Muneer al-Bursh, director of Al-Ahli Hospital, condemned the strike as a deliberate targeting of Gaza’s healthcare system.
“The Israeli occupation is directly targeting the healthcare system and medical staff, brazenly disregarding humanitarian and international laws,” he said in a video statement recorded next to the bomb crater.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza called for urgent protection of the health sector, noting that patients and displaced persons were being redirected to other medical facilities, including the Al-Quds Hospital, the Red Crescent Field Hospital in as-Saraya, and the al-Shifa complex.
In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli military claimed that it had targeted a Hamas command post located within the hospital.
The military alleged that the site was used for planning and executing attacks against Israeli forces.
The Palestinian group Hamas denounced the bombing, calling it a “savage crime” committed “with blatant US cover and complicity.”
Qatar condemns hospital attack
Qatar also condemned the attack, describing it as “a horrific massacre and a heinous crime against civilians.”
Doha warned of the potential collapse of Gaza’s already fragile health system and urged the international community to intervene to protect civilians.
The World Health Organization and other aid agencies have repeatedly warned about the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The United Nations reports that only a few of the enclave’s 36 hospitals remain even partially operational due to continued Israeli strikes, shortages of medical supplies, and the overwhelming number of casualties.
Israeli attacks kill 50,944 people in Gaza
The Health Ministry in Gaza stated that 11 more Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli air strikes across the Strip on Sunday, raising the death toll since the Israeli military campaign began in October 2023 to 50,944.
The ministry also reported 111 new injuries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of injured to 116,156.
A separate strike on a vehicle in Deir el-Balah killed seven people, including six brothers who were reportedly distributing aid, according to civil defence officials.
Mahmud Abu Amsha, a witness, told AFP that the victims had been delivering food and supplies to displaced families.
“They do not care about children or people being killed,” he said. “This aid was being provided to the displaced people.”
Israel takes control of Morag axis
Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, on Saturday announced the military’s full control of the “Morag axis,” a strategic corridor between the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
He said the move would allow the military to expand operations in what he called the “Israeli security zone.”
The war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023 and has led to unprecedented devastation. According to the United Nations, over 1.7 million people have been displaced, while international bodies continue to document alleged violations of humanitarian law.
Israel currently faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
