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Two Israeli missiles struck a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza early Sunday, destroying its emergency and reception department and causing damage to other structures, Reuters reported, quoting medical officials. The attack forced the evacuation of hundreds of patients, though no casualties were reported.
The Israeli military confirmed the strike, saying they had targeted Hamas members allegedly operating from within the hospital compound. The compound was being used by Hamas militants to plan attacks, the Israeli military reportedly said in a statement, adding that steps were taken in advance to reduce harm to civilians.
Health officials at the hospital said they received a warning phone call shortly before the attack from someone who identified himself as Israeli security. Patients were quickly evacuated, but the damage rendered the hospital — a key Anglican Church-run facility — inoperable, 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,” Reuters quoted ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran as saying.
The Baptist Church in Jerusalem, which oversees the hospital, confirmed the strike, saying the warning came only 20 minutes beforehand. According to the report, the strike 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, according to Reuters.
The incident comes as renewed ceasefire negotiations are underway in Cairo between Hamas representatives and mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States. Talks have stalled in recent weeks amid continued violence and airstrikes.
Images circulating on social media showed dozens of people, including patients, fleeing the hospital compound. Footage showed parts of the hospital’s church in ruins and patients unable to evacuate.
The Palestinian foreign ministry and Hamas condemned the attack, accusing Israel of systematically targeting Gaza’s healthcare system.
Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as cover for military operations — a claim the group denies.
Elsewhere in Gaza on Sunday, at least 14 Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli strikes, according to Hamas and local health officials. Among the dead was the head of a police station in Khan Younis. In central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah, six brothers were killed when an Israeli strike hit their car, the report said, quoting medics.
The conflict was reignited by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. Since then, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to local health authorities. Much of Gaza lies in ruins, with the majority of its population displaced.
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