‘You have 20 minutes to leave’: Israeli air attack destroys part of the last hospital in operation in the city of Gaza

An Israeli air strike destroyed part of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, the last totally functional hospital in the city of Gaza.

Witnesses said the attack destroyed intensive care and hospital surgery departments.

A video posted on social networks seems to show huge flames and smoke rising after missiles hit a two -story building. Several people, including some patients still in hospital beds, were filmed running out of the scene.

Israel’s defense forces (IDF) said they attacked the hospital because it contained a “Hamas control and control center.” The attack left no victim, according to the Gaza Civil Emergency Service.

However, a child who had previously suffered a head injury died as a result of the “hasty evacuation process”, according to a statement by Jerusalem’s episcopal diocese, which is affiliated with the hospital.

The Gaza Ministry of Health, run by Hamas, said the building was “completely destroyed”, leading to “forced displacement of patients and hospital staff.”

IDF said it has taken measures “to mitigate damage to civilians or the hospital complex, including the issuance of advanced warnings in the terrorist infrastructure area, the use of accurate ammunition and air surveillance.”

A local journalist, who was working at the hospital, said IDF called a doctor who was operating in the emergency department and asked them to evacuate the hospital immediately.

“All patients and displaced people should go out for a safe distance,” said the officer. “You have only 20 minutes to leave.”

Images on social networks showed employees and patients leaving the building while still dark outside.

Dozens of Palestinians, including women and children, were also seen fleeing a courtyard inside the hospital where they sought shelter.

Al-Ahli-a small medical center before the war-was the only totally functional hospital in the city of Gaza, after the destruction of the medical complex and al-Shifa hospitals in the northern part of the track.

In his statement, the government’s press office, led by Hamas, condemned the attack.

Israel “is committing a horrible crime by attacking Al-Ahli Hospital, which houses hundreds of patients and medical teams,” says the note.

In October 2023, an explosion in the same hospital killed hundreds of people.

Palestinian authorities blamed an Israeli attack on the explosion. Israel said the explosion was caused by a failed rocket release by the Islamic Jihad Militant Group, which denied responsibility.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 others were made hostage.

More than 50,933 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Ministry of Health of the territory managed by Hamas.

Of these, 1,563 were killed since March 18, when Israel restarted their offensive in the Gaza Strip, the ministry said.