Israel ramps up airstrikes across Gaza on Palm Sunday, targeting a hospital in the northern region

13 Apr 2025 19:05

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Israel ramps up airstrikes across Gaza on Palm Sunday, targeting a hospital in the northern region

A dead man is removed from the rubble of the Manoun family’s house after it was targeted by an Israeli army strike in Jabalia al-Balad, Gaza City, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A series of Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Sunday struck a hospital, a municipal facility, a residence, and a vehicle, killing at least 21 people—including children—as Israel pledged to broaden its security operations in the coastal enclave, News.Az informs via The Washington Tmes.

A predawn strike on Al-Ahli Hospital, in Gaza City, was the latest of several attacks on the last major hospital providing critical healthcare in northern Gaza.

Hospital director Dr. Fadel Naim said the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings were severely damaged, affecting over 100 patients and dozens of staff. He said in a post on X they had been warned in advance.

One patient, a girl, died during the evacuation because staff were unable to provide urgent care, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Al-Ahli Hospital is run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which condemned the attack, saying in a statement it occurred on “Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week, the most sacred week of the Christian year.” Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

Israel said it struck a command and control center used by Hamas at the hospital, without providing evidence. Hamas in a statement denied the allegations.

Associated Press video showed the hospital’s caved-in roof surrounded by debris. The health ministry’s director general, Dr. Munir al-Boursh, said patients had been carried outside in beds and slept in the streets.

“Nothing was left safe. Nothing was left safe inside the hospital, or all over Gaza,” said Mohammad Abu Nasser, an injured man who sat on his bed outdoors and looked at the destruction.

The health ministry said the hospital was temporarily out of service and patients were transferred to other hospitals in Gaza City. The aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians called it the fifth attack on the hospital since the war began.

Hospitals have special protection under international law. Israel has besieged and raided them, some several times, and struck multiple ones while accusing Hamas of using them as cover for its fighters.

Last month Israel struck Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the largest in southern Gaza, killing two people and causing a large fire, the health ministry said. The facility had been overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel ended a two-month ceasefire last month with a surprise wave of airstrikes.

Hours later, a strike on a car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed at least seven people including six brothers, according to staff at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. The youngest brother was 10.

Their father, Ibrahim Abu Mahadi, said his sons worked for a charity that distributes food to Palestinians. “For what sin were they killed?” he said.

News.Az