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🇪🇬 Egypt /Conflict & Security

Israeli strike hits Gaza hospital, creating huge crater amid ceasefire uncertainty

From Egypt Independent · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • Israeli strikes created a large crater at a Gaza hospital, destroying medical supplies and damaging warehouses, according to Gaza's health ministry.
  • The attack occurred less than 48 hours after the US announced a potential ceasefire plan agreed upon by Hamas and Israel.
  • The incident follows recent escalations and comes amid ongoing uncertainty about the US-brokered peace plan.

Israeli airstrikes have left a massive crater at a Gaza hospital, destroying vital medical supplies and damaging storage facilities, Gaza's Ministry of Health reported. The attack on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital occurred just two days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to advance a ceasefire plan.

Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, the health ministry's director general, stated that the bombing of medicines effectively turns illness into a weapon of war. The strike demolished two medical warehouses and damaged two others at the hospital. Additionally, a nearby displacement camp was leveled, and civilian tents sustained significant damage.

Footage from the scene shows individuals sifting through debris, attempting to recover medical items such as IV fluids, breathing tubes, surgical masks, and cotton balls. Al-Bursh emphasized that destroying a medical warehouse, while Gaza's healthcare system already faces a 51% shortage of essential medicines, constitutes a "direct assault on one of the last remaining lifelines of healthcare."

When medicines are bombed … illness becomes a weapon of war.

— Dr. Munir Al-BurshThe Director General of Gaza's Ministry of Health described the impact of the strike on medical supplies.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, eight civilians were killed and 76 injured in the past two days. Since the announcement of the ceasefire agreement last October, over 1,200 Palestinians have been killed. The recent strikes follow Trump's announcement on Thursday evening that Hamas had agreed to "completely disarm" and that Israeli troops would withdraw. While this marked progress in the peace roadmap, substantial issues remain unresolved.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet commented on Trump's announcement. However, an Israeli official informed CNN that Israel would not withdraw from Gaza without Hamas first disarming.

Destroying a medical warehouse while Gaza’s health system is already suffering from a 51 percent shortage of essential medicines … is a direct assault on one of the last remaining lifelines of healthcare.

— Dr. Munir Al-BurshDr. Al-Bursh highlighted the critical impact of the strike on Gaza's already strained healthcare system.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Egypt Independent in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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