1 week Ago By ARA
Israel bombed Al Ahli Hospital, the last remaining hospital in Gaza City, early this morning. Two projectiles reportedly hit the intensive care and surgical wards, forcing the evacuation of the building. Images from , the only international media outlet with access to the Strip, patients and families—who were using the center as a shelter—are seen fleeing the burning hospital.
The Gaza Ministry of Health has confirmed that the building is "completely destroyed" and that the bombing has caused the "forced displacement of patients and hospital staff." The attack has left seriously ill patients on the streets, at least three of whom have died after being evacuated. In fact, medical services are still searching for possible injured people who may have been trapped under the rubble or who were unable to get out in time.
According to the same network, the Israeli army gave the workers less than five minutes to evacuate the health center. The Israeli army has confirmed the offensive—which was carried out in coordination with the Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence services—and has stated that it was directed against a Hamas command complex within the hospital. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims that Al Ahli Hospital "had been used by the Hamas terrorist organization" to "plan and execute terrorist plots," but provides no evidence to support this.
Instead, the army again accuses Hamas of using "civilian buildings and the civilian population" for its operations. The IDF also claims that measures had been taken to mitigate damage to civilians or the hospital complex by issuing alerts shortly before the airstrike or by using "precision munitions and aerial surveillance." But a local journalist's version, reported by the BBC, is that military sources called a doctor in the hospital's emergency services just 20 minutes before the attack and asked him to evacuate the facility immediately.
"All patients and displaced persons must leave to a safe distance," the officer reportedly said. "You only have 20 minutes to leave." Al-Ahli was a small medical center before the war.
But it became the only functioning hospital in Gaza City after the destruction of the Al Shifa medical complex and hospitals in the northern part of the Strip. Since the start of the war, Israel has bombed and destroyed 36 hospitals in Gaza. The attack is part of the Israeli forces' stated strategy to depopulate northern Gaza and force Palestinians to move south.
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