Israeli occupation forces have once again targeted Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, destroying vital services including emergency care and laboratories. The attack occurred during the night of April 12-13, with the Israeli military issuing only minutes of warning.
“A mere 20 minutes prior to the attack, the Israeli army ordered all patients, employees, and displaced people to immediately evacuate the hospital premises prior to the bombing,” stated the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which is part of the Anglican Church and operates the facility. “One child who previously suffered a head injury tragically died as a result of the rushed evacuation process.”
Al-Ahli Hospital has been directly attacked about half a dozen times since October 2023. It was one of the first medical facilities to be targeted during the ongoing genocide and has already seen hundreds of patients and displaced people killed in previous bombings. “This is the Israeli occupation with its ugly face that targets hope,” said Dr. Munir al-Bursh from Gaza’s Ministry of Health. “It brazenly disregards humanitarian and international laws.”
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The assault sparked widespread condemnation. Health workers and officials again warned of the destruction of Gaza’s health system amid the ongoing genocidal campaign. The People’s Health Movement (PHM) condemned the bombing and called on the international community to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. PHM also demanded the punishment of war crimes committed against healthcare workers and patients in the occupied Gaza Strip.
“What kind of cowardish, sadistic, and completely amoral army will attack a hospital with sick and wounded people in the middle of the night,” Norwegian doctor and Palestine solidarity advocate Mads Gilbert asked in a conversation with Al Jazeera. Even government representatives from countries aligned with Israel expressed (very mild) concern. In Germany, for example, outgoing Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock mused whether it was feasible to evacuate hospitals within such limited timeframes.
However, in the same message, Baerbock stated that “the cruel Hamas terror must be combated,” probably anticipating that Israeli authorities would attempt to justify the attack by claiming that the liberation movement had an operation center inside Al-Ahli Hospital. These claims have remained unverified for over a year and a half. Doctors and health advocates around the world continue to denounce this narrative as propaganda designed to justify war crimes. “Last night’s Israeli missile attack on Al-Ahli Hospital happened because of Human Rights Watch’s complicity in clearing Israel for the first attack and massacre on October 17, [2023],” said Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta on X. “It exposed HRW as part of the genocide enablement apparatus.”
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Prior to the bombing, Al-Ahli’s emergency department and laboratory were among the last at least partially functioning in Gaza City. Like other facilities in the besieged Strip, the hospital had been running despite Israel’s blockade on medical supplies and humanitarian deliveries. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that several of its planned missions to the hospital had been blocked in the weeks before the attack. Due to the assaults and lack of supplies, the hospital had been pushed to operate at several times its capacity. “In one instance, the hospital’s emergency department was pushed to eight times its capacity following an airstrike on a school, receiving over 180 injuries and 52 fatalities in just one night,” WHO reported. The hospital’s CT scanner – the only one in the area – broke down due to overuse.
Following Sunday morning’s strikes, dozens of existing patients were transferred to other facilities and new casualties redirected elsewhere, including to Al-Shifa Hospital. However, with basically all hospitals across Gaza already damaged or operating beyond capacity, there is little hope that the remaining facilities can meet patients’ needs.
Palestinian activists have long warned that Israeli attacks on medical infrastructure not only impede treatment for the wounded and sick, but also lay the groundwork for wider public health catastrophes, including disease outbreaks. As Dr. Abu Sitta has repeatedly stressed, the destruction of Gaza’s health system will have consequences for generations to come. Governments and institutions that failed to protect healthcare infrastructure from military aggression, activists reminded after the attack on Al-Ahli Hospital, are complicit in these war crimes.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and subscriptions to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.
