Medical personnel said during an Israeli strike that two Israeli missiles attacked a building inside a major hospital in Gaza, destroying emergency and reception departments and damaging other buildings, and Israel said it was against Hamas fighters who used the facility.
Health officials at Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza evacuated the patient from the building after calling someone whom they identified as Israel safe shortly before the pre-dawn attack.
No casualties were found during the strike. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had taken measures to reduce the harm to civilians before attacking the yard, while the military said Hamas militants were using the harm to plan the attack.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said the hospital is an organization of the Anglican church and major medical institutions.
Evacuation overnight
“Hundreds of patients and injured people have to be evacuated in the middle of the night, and many patients are now on the street without medical services, putting their lives at risk,” said Khalil Al-Deqran, a spokesman for the ministry.
Sunday’s strike comes as Hamas leaders begin a new talk in Cairo to save a stagnant ceasefire agreement with Israel as Egypt, Qatar and the United States have stepped up efforts to bridge the gap between the two sides.
Images circulating on social media that Reuters could not verify immediately showed dozens of people leaving the house, some assisting patients in hospital beds.
Reuters video shows huge damage inside and outside the hospital compound church and patients who cannot leave.
The injured said the attack lasted “all night”
“I haven’t had a minute of sleep out of fear from night until now. All night, my insides broke our insides,” said Mohammed Abu Nasser, an injured man.
The Baptist Church in Jerusalem said the warning for evacuation of the hospital was 20 minutes before the strike destroyed the strike at the two-story genetic laboratory and damaged the pharmacy and emergency room buildings and other surrounding structures.
“We call on all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to prevent various attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions,” the church said in a statement.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and Hamas condemned the attacks by Al Ali and said in a statement that Israel is destroying Gaza’s health care system.
Israel said Hamas systematically exploited civilian structures including hospitals denied by militant groups. Israeli troops carried out many raids in medical facilities in the enclave.
An earlier hospital parking lot exploded
In October 2023, Hamas accused a fatal explosion in a parking lot at the Al Ali Hospital compound during an Israeli air strike. Israel said the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket launch failed.
The radical group denied that it was responsible. Human Rights Watch’s investigation concluded that the explosion was likely caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch.
A separate strike on the enclave on Sunday killed at least 14 Palestinians, including Hamas – the head of the police station in Khan Yunis, which operates the south of the enclave. Six brothers were killed when Israel strike crashed in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, medical staff said.
According to the Israeli Soles, the war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which were killed and 251 were taken hostages according to the Israeli attacks on southern Israel.
Since then, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities. Most of Gaza is in ruins and most of its population is displaced.
