Israeli Air Strike Hits Gaza's Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital: Key Departments Destroyed, IDF Alleges Hamas Presence
On April 13, 2025, an Israeli air strike hit the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, destroying its intensive care and surgery departments. The hospital, the last operational facility in northern Gaza, was rendered non-functional. The IDF claimed the strike targeted a Hamas command center within the hospital. No direct casualties were reported, but a child died during evacuation. The attack has been condemned by Palestinian authorities and humanitarian groups. The strike is part of Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza, following a Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.
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04/13 08:37
Israeli Air Strike Hits Gaza's Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital: Key Departments Destroyed, IDF Alleges Hamas Presence
On April 13, 2025, an Israeli air strike hit the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, destroying its intensive care and surgery departments. The hospital, the last operational facility in northern Gaza, was rendered non-functional. The IDF claimed the strike targeted a Hamas command center within the hospital. No direct casualties were reported, but a child died during evacuation. The attack has been condemned by Palestinian authorities and humanitarian groups. The strike is part of Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza, following a Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.
Hospital Hit Amid Ongoing Offensive
The air strike on Al-Ahli Hospital occurred as part of Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which intensified following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people. The IDF said the hospital compound was being used by Hamas operatives to plan and coordinate attacks against Israeli civilians and military personnel.
According to the IDF, the strike was carried out with "precise munitions" and followed "advance warnings" to minimize civilian harm. A statement from the military said aerial surveillance was used to confirm the target and that warnings were issued to evacuate the building before the strike.
Destruction of Critical Medical Infrastructure
The strike caused extensive damage to the hospital’s infrastructure. Gaza’s civil defense agency confirmed that the surgery building and the oxygen generation station for the intensive care units were destroyed. Witnesses and hospital staff reported that the emergency and reception departments were also heavily damaged.
Video footage and photographs from the scene showed large sections of the hospital reduced to rubble, with twisted metal and concrete debris scattered across the compound. Flames and thick smoke were seen rising from the site shortly after the missiles struck.
The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which oversees the hospital, stated that the two-storey Genetic Laboratory was demolished and that the pharmacy and emergency department buildings were also damaged. The nearby St. Philip’s Church building sustained collateral damage.
Patients and Staff Forced to Flee
The hospital was treating hundreds of patients at the time of the strike. According to multiple reports, patients, including those in critical condition, were forced to evacuate with little notice. A local journalist reported that a doctor received a phone call from someone identifying as an Israeli officer, instructing them to evacuate the hospital within 20 minutes.
Footage shared on social media showed patients, some still in hospital beds, being wheeled out into the dark streets. Dozens of civilians, including women and children who had been sheltering in the hospital courtyard, were also seen fleeing the area.
The Gaza health ministry confirmed that the building was "completely destroyed," resulting in the "forced displacement of patients and hospital staff." The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem reported that one child with a head injury died during the evacuation due to the inability to provide urgent care. Al Jazeera cited a former emergency doctor at the hospital who said at least three patients, including a 12-year-old boy on oxygen, died after being moved to a smaller facility that lacked the capacity to treat them.
IDF Justifies Strike, Hamas Denies Allegations
The IDF maintains that the hospital was being used by Hamas as a command and control center. In a statement, the military said, “The compound was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”
The IDF emphasized that it had taken steps to mitigate harm to civilians, including issuing early warnings and using precision-guided munitions. The military also claimed that the strike was part of a broader effort to dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure embedded within civilian areas.
Hamas and the Hamas-run government media office strongly denied the IDF’s claims and condemned the strike as a “heinous and filthy crime.” The health ministry in Gaza accused Israel of deliberately targeting the healthcare system, stating that 34 hospitals have been rendered out of service since the beginning of the war.
Al-Ahli: A Lifeline in a Collapsing Health System
Before the war, Al-Ahli was a small medical facility. However, following the destruction of the Al-Shifa medical complex and other hospitals in northern Gaza, it became the only remaining operational hospital in Gaza City. Its destruction marks a significant blow to the already devastated healthcare infrastructure in the region.
The hospital had previously been struck in October 2023, in an incident that killed hundreds. At the time, Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel attributed the explosion to a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a claim the group denied.
The latest strike has reignited concerns about the safety of medical facilities and personnel in Gaza. International humanitarian law protects hospitals from military attacks unless they are being used for military purposes, a point of contention in this and previous incidents.
Broader Context
The strike on Al-Ahli Hospital comes amid a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza. The IDF recently seized key corridors in the territory and has signaled plans to expand operations further. Israeli officials have issued new displacement orders for residents in central and southern Gaza, including the Nuseirat refugee camp and Khan Younis.
Since the start of the conflict, more than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with the United Nations warning of critical shortages in medical supplies and essential services.
References
- IDF strikes Hamas command center inside Al Ahli Hospital, patients evacuated
- Israeli air strike destroys part of last functioning hospital in Gaza City
- Israeli forces bomb al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, forcing patients to flee
- Airstrike destroys parts of Gaza City hospital as Israel intensifies offensive
- Israeli Air Strike Destroys Part of Last Functioning Hospital in Gaza City
- Gaza hospital hit as Israel intensifies assault
- Gaza’s last operating Hospital destroyed amid renewed Israeli offensive
