Israeli strike flattens al-Ahli Baptist hospital, Gaza's last facility in the north
The Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital is out of action after Israeli warplanes destroyed one of its buildings in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital is out of action after Israeli warplanes destroyed one of its buildings in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The New Arab Staff
13 April, 2025
The UN has accused Israel of “systemically” destroying Gaza’s healthcare system [Getty]
Israeli warplanes bombed the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital (commonly known as the Baptist Hospital) early on Sunday, obliterating the last remaining medical facility in northern Gaza in what Gaza authorities have condemned as a war crime.
The airstrikes destroyed critical infrastructure, including the hospital’s emergency department, oxygen unit, and main entrance, according to eyewitnesses.
The bombing "completely destroyed" the facility and "forced the evacuation of patients and hospital staff," Gaza's health ministry said.
The attack came without warning to most staff and patients. Reuters reported that a hospital worker had received a phone call from someone claiming to be an Israeli official shortly before the strike.
Video footage posted online shows the frantic evacuation of patients, including the wounded and critically ill, just moments before the bombing. One doctor reported that at least three patients - including a child - died during the panicked evacuation.
Hundreds of patients were left without access to medical care as Israel has already damaged or destroyed nearly all other hospitals in northern Gaza.
The World Health Organization and the UN have repeatedly warned that the deliberate targeting of medical facilities may constitute war crimes under international law.
The Israeli military claimed, without providing evidence, that the hospital was being used as a Hamas "command and control centre". This allegation echoes repeated Israeli claims used to justify strikes on civilian infrastructure - including schools, shelters, and hospitals - despite a consistent lack of evidence and subsequent reports showing many of these sites housed only displaced civilians.
The Gaza Media Office described the bombing as "a new horrific crime", saying it targeted hundreds of patients, doctors, and nurses who had nowhere else to go.
"We call on international institutions to protect Gaza’s healthcare system … and take immediate action to stop the continuing violations," the health ministry urged in a statement.
Since October 2023, Israel has systematically destroyed Gaza’s health infrastructure, wiping out 34 hospitals and leaving vast areas of the strip without access to emergency care.
The United Nations has warned of what it calls the "de-development" of Gaza’s healthcare system, a process it says appears deliberate.
The latest attack comes as the death toll from Israel’s 18-month war on Gaza surpasses 50,000, with more than 116,000 people wounded, according to the local health ministry.
Hamas team in Cairo for truce talks
Meanwhile, a Hamas team led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Saturday for crunch ceasefire talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials.
The Palestinian group expects "real progress" to be made at the meeting, during which Egypt’s latest truce proposal will be discussed.
Under the proposal, the two sides would agree to a ceasefire lasting between 40 and 70 days and exchange a number of prisoners, according to a report.
The meeting comes days after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism that a deal to was close.
Israeli media quoted US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as saying that a “very serious deal” is only days away.
Hamas published a video on Saturday showing the US-Israeli prisoner Edan Alexander alive, raising the stakes ahead of the talks.
Settlers storm Al-Aqsa complex
Hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa compound on Sunday morning in the latest in a series of provocations at the sensitive religious site.
Local news agency WAFA reported that almost 200 settlers entered the area under police protection in the morning, less than two weeks after extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the compound.
This comes two days after Israeli authorities banned Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Muhammad Salim from entering the compound for a week after he criticised Israel’s war on Gaza.
Incursions by settlers into the Al-Aqsa complex have surged under the current far-right Israeli government.
Last year saw more than 53,600 Israelis enter the area, the highest number since police began allowing Jews entrance to the site more than 20 years ago.
13 April, 2025
The UN has accused Israel of “systemically” destroying Gaza’s healthcare system [Getty]
Israeli warplanes bombed the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital (commonly known as the Baptist Hospital) early on Sunday, obliterating the last remaining medical facility in northern Gaza in what Gaza authorities have condemned as a war crime.
The airstrikes destroyed critical infrastructure, including the hospital’s emergency department, oxygen unit, and main entrance, according to eyewitnesses.
The bombing "completely destroyed" the facility and "forced the evacuation of patients and hospital staff," Gaza's health ministry said.
The attack came without warning to most staff and patients. Reuters reported that a hospital worker had received a phone call from someone claiming to be an Israeli official shortly before the strike.
Video footage posted online shows the frantic evacuation of patients, including the wounded and critically ill, just moments before the bombing. One doctor reported that at least three patients - including a child - died during the panicked evacuation.
Hundreds of patients were left without access to medical care as Israel has already damaged or destroyed nearly all other hospitals in northern Gaza.
The World Health Organization and the UN have repeatedly warned that the deliberate targeting of medical facilities may constitute war crimes under international law.
The Israeli military claimed, without providing evidence, that the hospital was being used as a Hamas "command and control centre". This allegation echoes repeated Israeli claims used to justify strikes on civilian infrastructure - including schools, shelters, and hospitals - despite a consistent lack of evidence and subsequent reports showing many of these sites housed only displaced civilians.
The Gaza Media Office described the bombing as "a new horrific crime", saying it targeted hundreds of patients, doctors, and nurses who had nowhere else to go.
"We call on international institutions to protect Gaza’s healthcare system … and take immediate action to stop the continuing violations," the health ministry urged in a statement.
Since October 2023, Israel has systematically destroyed Gaza’s health infrastructure, wiping out 34 hospitals and leaving vast areas of the strip without access to emergency care.
The United Nations has warned of what it calls the "de-development" of Gaza’s healthcare system, a process it says appears deliberate.
The latest attack comes as the death toll from Israel’s 18-month war on Gaza surpasses 50,000, with more than 116,000 people wounded, according to the local health ministry.
Hamas team in Cairo for truce talks
Meanwhile, a Hamas team led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Saturday for crunch ceasefire talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials.
The Palestinian group expects "real progress" to be made at the meeting, during which Egypt’s latest truce proposal will be discussed.
Under the proposal, the two sides would agree to a ceasefire lasting between 40 and 70 days and exchange a number of prisoners, according to a report.
The meeting comes days after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism that a deal to was close.
Israeli media quoted US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as saying that a “very serious deal” is only days away.
Hamas published a video on Saturday showing the US-Israeli prisoner Edan Alexander alive, raising the stakes ahead of the talks.
Settlers storm Al-Aqsa complex
Hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa compound on Sunday morning in the latest in a series of provocations at the sensitive religious site.
Local news agency WAFA reported that almost 200 settlers entered the area under police protection in the morning, less than two weeks after extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the compound.
This comes two days after Israeli authorities banned Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Muhammad Salim from entering the compound for a week after he criticised Israel’s war on Gaza.
Incursions by settlers into the Al-Aqsa complex have surged under the current far-right Israeli government.
Last year saw more than 53,600 Israelis enter the area, the highest number since police began allowing Jews entrance to the site more than 20 years ago.
April 12, 2025
MEMO
Red Cross teams in Khan Yunis, Gaza on February 22, 2025.
Red Cross teams in Khan Yunis, Gaza on February 22, 2025.
[Abdallah F.s. Alattar – Anadolu Agency ]
The CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Saturday called for an end to attacks on humanitarian workers worldwide, mentioning in particular the problems in getting aid to the embattled Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports.
“Getting humanitarian assistance to Gaza has been very, very difficult, and for the last more than a month, no aid has been entering the country,” Jagan Chapagain told Anadolu during Türkiye’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum, taking place this weekend. Israel halted the entry of all humanitarian aid to Gaza on March 2.
“We have asked, really, that … killings of the humanitarian workers must stop everywhere in the world,” he said, adding that “fundamental principles and international emergency law must be respected.”
“In the world now, we have multiple crises happening, multiple disasters happening, multiple conflict happening,” Jagan explained.
“One of the tragedies” is the lack of political solutions to crises, he said, meaning that they start, but “never end, and new crises keep on coming.”
“So you have crisis after crisis, crisis after crisis. This is not a sustainable situation,” Jagan said, adding: “The only way we can start turning the tide is through diplomacy, through engagement.”
The CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Saturday called for an end to attacks on humanitarian workers worldwide, mentioning in particular the problems in getting aid to the embattled Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports.
“Getting humanitarian assistance to Gaza has been very, very difficult, and for the last more than a month, no aid has been entering the country,” Jagan Chapagain told Anadolu during Türkiye’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum, taking place this weekend. Israel halted the entry of all humanitarian aid to Gaza on March 2.
“We have asked, really, that … killings of the humanitarian workers must stop everywhere in the world,” he said, adding that “fundamental principles and international emergency law must be respected.”
“In the world now, we have multiple crises happening, multiple disasters happening, multiple conflict happening,” Jagan explained.
“One of the tragedies” is the lack of political solutions to crises, he said, meaning that they start, but “never end, and new crises keep on coming.”
“So you have crisis after crisis, crisis after crisis. This is not a sustainable situation,” Jagan said, adding: “The only way we can start turning the tide is through diplomacy, through engagement.”
'Everyone you encounter is an enemy': Israeli commander’s words resurface after 15 medics killed
In the wake of the killing of 15 paramedics and first responders by Israeli occupation forces in Rafah — who were later found buried along with their vehicles in a mass grave — a chilling battlefield directive by the commander of the Israeli army's elite Golani Reconnaissance Battalion has resurfaced. Addressing his soldiers ahead of a ground incursion, Lt. Col. David Cohen said: 'Everyone you encounter is an enemy. If you identify a figure — open fire, annihilate, and move on. Do not be confused in this regard.' Cohen made no distinction between combatants and civilians in his orders, a stance human rights observers say may explain the rising civilian death toll in Gaza — including the targeted killing of medical and emergency workers. Israel maintains its operations are aimed at dismantling Hamas and rescuing hostages. But with mounting casualties and incidents like the Rafah paramedic murders, rights groups highlight the rising evidence that the occupation state is carrying out a policy of genocide in Gaza.
April 8, 2025
In the wake of the killing of 15 paramedics and first responders by Israeli occupation forces in Rafah — who were later found buried along with their vehicles in a mass grave — a chilling battlefield directive by the commander of the Israeli army's elite Golani Reconnaissance Battalion has resurfaced. Addressing his soldiers ahead of a ground incursion, Lt. Col. David Cohen said: 'Everyone you encounter is an enemy. If you identify a figure — open fire, annihilate, and move on. Do not be confused in this regard.' Cohen made no distinction between combatants and civilians in his orders, a stance human rights observers say may explain the rising civilian death toll in Gaza — including the targeted killing of medical and emergency workers. Israel maintains its operations are aimed at dismantling Hamas and rescuing hostages. But with mounting casualties and incidents like the Rafah paramedic murders, rights groups highlight the rising evidence that the occupation state is carrying out a policy of genocide in Gaza.
April 8, 2025
MEMO
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