Missile strike on Christian-run al Ahli Arab hospital leaves building in ruins and disrupts care for critically injured patients
An Israeli air strike destroyed part of al Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully operational medical facility in Gaza City, early on Palm Sunday, sparking outrage and grief as patients, medics and displaced families were forced to flee.
The blast, which ripped through the hospital’s intensive care and surgery units, came after what witnesses described as a warning call from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to evacuate immediately. Within 20 minutes, staff scrambled to move patients, some still in their beds, before the missiles struck.
The hospital, run by the Anglican Church’s Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, confirmed that one child died due to complications during the rushed evacuation. The Diocese expressed deep shock, condemning the attack on “the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week,” calling it “appalling.”
Video footage posted online shows the aftermath — flames engulfing the two-storey building, smoke billowing into the night sky, and terrified civilians, including wounded children and amputees, fleeing into the dark. The destruction left parts of the hospital reduced to rubble.
A journalist who had been working at the hospital described how an Israeli officer warned a doctor over the phone to evacuate immediately. “You have only 20 minutes to leave,” the officer allegedly told them.
The IDF claimed responsibility for the strike, saying the hospital compound had housed a “Hamas command and control centre,” and stressed it had used “precise munitions” while conducting aerial surveillance and issuing warnings to limit civilian harm.
Despite these claims, medical personnel and civilians recounted a terrifying scene. Khalil Bakr, whose three daughters were recovering from amputations at the hospital, said they escaped “only two minutes before the bombing.” He added, “It was terrifying… my daughter has one leg, the other has one hand, and the third has platinum plates all over her body.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the hospital is now out of service. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at least 50 patients had been transferred to other hospitals, but 40 critically ill patients could not be moved. “Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law,” he said. “Attacks on health care must stop.”
The Episcopal Diocese also reported damage to nearby buildings, including St Philip’s Church.
Al Ahli Arab Hospital had become a vital lifeline in northern Gaza after the destruction of Al-Shifa Medical Complex and other health facilities in the Strip. Before the war, it was a relatively small hospital, but it had been stretched to capacity treating war-wounded civilians.
This is not the first time the hospital has been struck. In October 2023, a massive explosion killed hundreds on the premises. That incident remains disputed: Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel claimed it was a failed rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad — an allegation the group denied.
In the wake of this latest strike, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the attack, saying “deplorable attacks must end” and noting that Israeli strikes have severely degraded access to medical care in Gaza. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, also expressed his grief, describing the bombing of Gaza’s only Christian hospital on Palm Sunday as “especially appalling.”
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 50,933 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its campaign following the Hamas-led 7 October attack on Israel. That attack resulted in 1,200 Israeli deaths and the taking of 251 hostages.
