Major Catastrophe
Last Thursday evening and early Friday, the Israeli occupation army launched air strikes on several hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The Ministry of Health in Gaza warned that this targeting of hospitals could lead to a major catastrophe.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, stated that the Israeli occupation had previously threatened hospital officials in Gaza and is now carrying out these threats by targeting hospitals.
Al-Qudra confirmed that the continuous targeting of hospitals by the Israeli occupation is causing a major disaster. He warned that there are only a few hours left before Gaza City and its northern areas are left without any medical services.
Indonesian Hospital
One of the hospitals targeted was the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes bombed the vicinity of the hospital, resulting in the death and injury of two Palestinian citizens.
The Al-Zaatar neighborhood, which is adjacent to the Indonesian hospital, was also heavily bombed. This neighborhood houses tens of thousands of wounded, sick, and displaced people, including many children, women, and elderly individuals.
Footage captured by an Al Jazeera journalist showed the aftermath of the Israeli raids near the Indonesian hospital. The bombing caused significant damage to the hospital facilities and created panic among citizens seeking shelter.
Al-Rantisi Hospital
The Israeli occupation forces also targeted Al-Rantisi Hospital for Children in central Gaza City. The bombing resulted in a massive fire in the basements and parking lots of the hospital.
Images obtained by Al Jazeera showed cars completely engulfed in flames, with people attempting to extinguish them using ordinary water hoses. Some cars inside the hospital were completely charred.
Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra reported that the bombing caused cars to catch fire, which then spread to the wards where the wounded were being treated. However, the displaced people and medical teams in the hospital managed to control the fire.
Al-Shifa Complex
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli army aircraft fired multiple missiles near the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and Al-Nasr Hospital in the western part of Gaza.
Al-Qudra explained that these Israeli violations have led to the targeting of 130 health institutions, with 18 hospitals and 46 primary care centers forced to cease operations. He also accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon against the wounded and patients in hospitals.
Furthermore, Al-Qudra revealed that 195 members of the medical teams have been martyred since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza.
For the past 34 days, the Israeli army has been conducting a war on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of over 10,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring approximately 27,000 others.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies
