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An Israeli air strike on Sunday devastated Al Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully operational medical facility in Gaza City. The pre-dawn attack destroyed critical departments including intensive care and surgery wings, rendering the hospital non-functional amid Gaza's ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Witnesses described terrifying scenes as missiles struck a two-story building, sending flames and smoke billowing skyward. Video footage showed patients in hospital beds being hastily evacuated from the facility. The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which operates the hospital, confirmed one child with a previous head injury died during "the rushed evacuation process."
According to local journalists, Israeli forces provided just 20 minutes' warning before the strike. "All patients and displaced people must go out to a safe distance," an IDF officer reportedly told a doctor by phone. "You have only 20 minutes to leave."
Khalil Bakr, who fled with his three injured daughters, told BBC Arabic: "It was terrifying. Only two minutes separated us from death." His daughters, one with an amputated leg, another with an amputated hand, and a third with "body full of platinum plates," narrowly escaped.
The Israel Defense Forces claimed the strike targeted a "command and control centre used by Hamas" within the hospital compound. They stated they took measures "to mitigate harm to civilians" including "advanced warnings" and "precise munitions." Hamas officials categorically denied military presence at the medical facility.
World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported the hospital was forced to relocate 50 patients while leaving 40 critical patients without proper transfer options. "Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law. Attacks on health care must stop," he emphasized.
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy condemned the action, stating: "Israel's attacks on medical facilities have comprehensively degraded access to healthcare in Gaza." The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell called the Palm Sunday attack on "the only Christian hospital in Gaza" particularly "appalling."
Al Ahli Arab Hospital, a modest facility before the war, had become increasingly vital following the destruction of Al-Shifa medical complex and other northern Gaza hospitals. The facility treated approximately 1,000 patients daily before the strike.
This incident marks the fifth time Al Ahli has been targeted since October 2023, when an explosion at the same location killed hundreds. That earlier incident sparked international controversy, with Palestinians blaming Israel while Israeli officials attributed it to a failed Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket.
The latest strike occurs amid intensified Israeli military operations that have displaced approximately 400,000 Palestinians in recent weeks, according to United Nations reports. Gaza's Health Ministry reports over 50,933 deaths since hostilities began following Hamas' October 7th attack on Israel.
