A list of some of the toughest Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system since October 23, 2023.
Israeli air attacks have resulted in the last functional hospital in northern Gaza being unsurged and forced critically ill patients on the streets.
The latest attack on Al-Ara Arab Hospital on Sunday will occur as Israel said it plans to expand its military attack after seizing a corridor south of war-covered Palestinian territory and smashing a ceasefire in March.
Gaza’s civil defense said the Israeli Air Force targeted the hospital building early on Sunday.
The Israeli military and Singh Bett agencies claimed they targeted Hamas’ “command and control complex” at the hospital without providing evidence.
Gaza’s healthcare facilities have been repeatedly targeted, including a 2,000-pound bomb made in the US.
The Al-Ahli Hospital is one of at least 36 hospitals that have been bombed and burned by Israeli forces since the start of the war.
Targeting medical facilities, healthcare professionals and patients is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Convention.
Here is a list of some of the major attacks on healthcare in Gaza since October 2023.
October 17, 2023
Hundreds of people were killed in Israeli attacks in the parking lot of Al Ali Hospital, Palestinian health officials said. During the days leading up to the incident, the hospital director reportedly received warnings from Israel. Israel believes the explosion at the facility is attributed to an unfair rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic jihad, an allegation rejected by armed groups.
November 3, 2023
The ambulance fleet was destroyed by an Israeli air force attack outside Al-Sifa Hospital, killing many Palestinians.
November 21, 2023
Air raids at Al-Awda Hospital have killed Dr. Mahmoud Abu Nujaila, a doctor without borders, Dr. Ahmad Al-Sahar (MSF), and another doctor, Ziad Al-Tatari.
January 22, 2024
Several people died while protecting approximately 150 meters (about 500 feet) from the entrance to Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital. Evacuees evacuate in areas suffered due to battle and forced evacuation orders.
March 20, 2024
Israeli forces said they killed 90 people in an attack on Alsifa Hospital during the siege as Palestinians evacuated at facilities that described long detention and abuse. Hamas condemned the hospital’s “bloody massacre” and said civilians, patients and displaced people were among those killed.
March 31, 2024
Many people were killed and injured in an air raid in the garden of Al Aqsa Hospital, just outside the emergency room that many internally displaced people were protecting.
Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, shows damages within Beitrahiya’s facilities before being arrested by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip. [File: Stringer/Reuters]
April 1, 2024
The 14-day siege by Israeli military at Alsifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the enclave, killed hundreds of people, including mass arrests of medical staff and their staff.
October 14, 2024
An Israeli air attack at Al Aqsa Hospital in Elbara killed five people and injured 65 people.
December 28, 2024
The Israeli Army arrested Dr. Husam Absafia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, after refusing to comply with an order to abandon one of the last functional hospitals in northern Gaza. His arrest came the day after the military killed about 20 Palestinians and arrested about 240 people in a raid inside the hospital. This was one of the “biggest operations” carried out on the territory up until then.
November 2023
Israeli forces were surrounded by Indonesian hospital in Beit Rahiya for several days. The Israeli army left the hospital in abandoned states, with charred and disassembled bodies stacked on the corner.
January 4, 2025
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, after repeated attacks by Israeli forces, Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza have been hired.
March 23, 2025
Israeli forces reportedly shot 15 Palestinian doctors and worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent Association, who died while on a rescue mission in Rafa’s Tar Az Sultan area. Videos recovered from the mobile phone of one of the killed Palestinian medical professionals showed the involvement of Israeli forces and sparked widespread rage.
