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Two Israeli missiles struck Gaza’s main hospital on Sunday, destroying its emergency and reception wing and damaging surrounding buildings, in what Israel claimed was a targeted attack on Hamas members allegedly using the facility.
Health officials at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital evacuated the patients from the building after a phone call from someone who identified himself as Israeli security shortly before the attack.
No casualties were reported in the strike. The Israeli military said in a statement it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians before it struck the compound, which was allegedly being used by Hamas members to plan attacks.
The hospital – an institution of the Anglican Church and a major medical facility – was knocked out of operation, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
“Hundreds of patients and injured people had to be evacuated in the middle of the night and many of them are now out in the streets without medical care, which puts their lives at risk,” said the ministry’s spokesperson, Khalil al-Deqran.
Sunday’s strikes came as Hamas leaders began a fresh round of talks in Cairo, in a bid to salvage a stalled cease-fire agreement with Israel, as Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have stepped up efforts to bridge gaps between the sides.
Images circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed dozens of people leaving the premises, with some assisting patients on hospital beds.
Reuters footage showed significant destruction in and outside the hospital compound’s church and patients who couldn’t leave.
Warning
“The scene was scary, from night until now, I haven’t slept a single minute out of fear. All night, glass shattered at us inside,” said an injured man, Mohammed Abu Nasser.
The Baptist Church in Jerusalem said the warning to evacuate the hospital came 20 minutes before the strike that destroyed the two-storey Genetic Laboratory and damaged the Pharmacy and Emergency Department buildings and other surrounding structures.
“We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions,” the church said in a statement.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and Hamas condemned the attack at Al-Ahli, and said in a statement that Israel was destroying Gaza’s health care system.
Israel accuses Hamas of systematically exploiting civilian structures, including hospitals, which the resistance group denies. Israeli forces have carried out numerous raids in medical facilities in the enclave.
In October 2023, an Israeli airstrike on a parking lot in Al-Ahli hospital killed over 500 people.
Othe strikes
Separate strikes in the enclave Sunday killed at least 14 Palestinians, including the head of a police station in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the enclave, according to Hamas and health authorities.
Six brothers were killed when an Israeli strike hit their car in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.
Three more people were killed and several others injured by an Israeli strike targeting the headquarters of the Zakat Committee of the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs in the same city.
A woman also lost her life in another drone strike in Jabalia in northern Gaza, sources said.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, incursion of southern Israel, which caused 1,200 deaths and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s genocidal war, in comparison, has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians since, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities. Much of Gaza is in ruins and most of its population has been displaced.
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