GAZA, (PIC)
The bombing of the Baptist Hospital by the brutal occupation army and its subsequent removal from service this morning was just another chapter in the continuous Zionist criminality since October 7, 2023. It revealed the harsh phases of the occupation’s treatment towards hospitals and medical institutions in Gaza Strip, a “hospital war” unlike any the world has seen before, in an effort to turn the area into an uninhabitable place in the latest manifestations of modern-era genocide.
Words fail to describe the criminal scene, where American missiles, Arab and international silence, and the muteness and impotence of international humanitarian institutions—unable to prevent such a crime that violates every norm, law, custom, and human rights protecting medical facilities and prohibiting their targeting—become mere tools in the hands of a criminal entity that has practiced every form of sadism against people and stone, leaving nothing untouched in its crosshairs.
The atrocity of the crime was not new. Since the beginning of the aggression, the Baptist Hospital had been a witness to a horrific massacre, to a world that remained silent, and to an inability to stand firmly and decisively against the criminal enemy. Since then, it has been subjected to the arts of genocide in an open hospital war that has taken more than 36 hospitals and medical institutions out of service, subjecting the people of the Gaza Strip to further pain and mass extermination where not a single pill of medicine, a bed, or a healing doctor is available, nor any shelter protected by international law—whether it is a hospital or even a clinic in a Gaza Strip alley… All are seen as equals in the eyes of the criminal army.
A new chapter in the genocide of Gaza
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor described, in a statement, the deliberate destruction carried out by the Israeli occupation army against the Baptist Hospital (Al-Ahli) in Gaza City as reflecting Israel’s insistence on dismantling the means of survival in the Gaza Strip wholly and directly. This is done as part of a clear path to abolishing every element necessary for survival by undermining the remaining legal protection for the population, stripping them of the minimum conditions for life, and targeting vital infrastructure as an end in itself. This is within a calculated policy aimed at manufacturing slow death and pushing Gaza Strip toward complete collapse.
The Monitor confirmed in a press statement on Sunday that this escalation represents a dangerous phase in a systematic strategy to eliminate the “last refuge” places where Palestinian civilians take shelter, including patients and the wounded who should be provided protection under all circumstances, as well as the medical teams working under catastrophic conditions to save as many lives as possible. It stressed that targeting a hospital that houses critically ill patients is a direct assault on the right to life and, in its broader context, constitutes another chapter in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Formal evacuation orders to justify the crime
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also noted that the pre-issued order by the Israeli occupation army to evacuate the entire hospital in less than half an hour does not meet the minimum requirements for effective evacuation under the guarantees imposed by international law to protect medical facilities. It reflects Israel’s deliberate refusal to provide genuine means to avoid targeting civilians, including patients, the wounded, and medical teams, and clearly exposes a pattern of behavior based on issuing formal orders to justify crimes that, despite being carried out, do not absolve those responsible from legal accountability.
It stressed that the mere evacuation of the hospital does not strip it of its protected status under international law, nor does it justify its targeting and destruction, especially when the medical facility continues to perform its vital role in sustaining civilians. This was the case with the Baptist Hospital, where the humanitarian use of the hospital remains ongoing, and civilians must in no way be deprived of its services despite the evacuation.
The Monitor said that “demanding an immediate evacuation of a hospital overcrowded with patients, many of whom are in critical condition and on life-support devices, in the midst of a full siege and the absence of safe zones, cannot be considered a humanitarian measure. Instead, it is an impossible demand that makes the warning itself part of a coercive methodology to destroy the population both materially and morally.”
It also confirmed that Israel’s claim of “military use” of the hospital is nothing more than a pre-written text that is repeatedly used to justify the systematic murder and destruction.
It emphasized that “the continued targeting of hospitals and health infrastructure in the Gaza Strip amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity, and exposes the systematic nature of the aggression aimed at eliminating the civilian population in Gaza Strip by dismantling the fundamentals of their survival.”
Baptist Hospital taken out of service
At dawn on Sunday, the Zionist occupation aircraft bombed the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, resulting in its removal from service and forcing patients and the wounded to spill onto the surrounding streets.
The PIC correspondent reported that the occupation aircraft fired two missiles at the reception and emergency building of the Baptist Hospital, after a brief warning call regarding the impending strike.
The bombing resulted in the destruction of the targeted building, causing significant damage to the reception, emergency department, laboratory, and pharmacy, igniting fires, and forcing dozens of the wounded and patients to occupy the streets surrounding the hospital.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned the occupation’s targeting of the Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip during the early hours of dawn today, as it bombed a building within the hospital premises and completely destroyed it, leading to the forcible evacuation of patients and staff inside the hospital.
International institutions and concerned parties have called for the protection of the healthcare sector in Gaza Strip, as guaranteed by international laws, conventions, and humanitarian agreements, and for immediate action to stop the continuous violations against the Gaza Strip—especially against patients and the health sector.
The Government Media Office (GMO) announced that the Israeli occupation committed a new, horrendous crime by bombing the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, which houses hundreds of patients, the wounded, and medical teams.
The GMO added in its statement that the Baptist Hospital, which includes several specialized departments, was serving hundreds of patients, the wounded, medical teams, and their escorts at the time of the attack, and it provides health services to more than one million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and North Gaza. This occurred amid an almost complete collapse of the health system due to the ongoing genocide, siege, and continuous bombing.
The U.S. administration and countries participating in genocide bear responsibility
This heinous, vile crime was condemned, and full responsibility was attributed to the Israeli occupation, the U.S. administration, and the countries complicit in the genocide—such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
The international community, UN agencies, and human rights and humanitarian organizations were called upon to condemn this crime and to act swiftly and urgently to put an end to this state terrorism, as well as to immediately protect what remains of the health facilities in the Gaza Strip.
The GMO published a list of 36 hospitals targeted by the Israeli occupation army through bombing, burning, destruction, or removal from service during the genocide in the Gaza Strip.
A rogue entity defying all systems and laws
In this context, Hamas Movement said that the bombing of the Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation and the destruction of its reception and emergency building, along with the displacement of patients and the wounded, constitutes a new war crime committed by the fascist occupation army, as part of its series of brutal crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas added in a statement at dawn on Sunday that this “brutal crime once again confirms that we are dealing with a criminal entity that disregards all laws, systems, and humanitarian norms, operating under American cover and collusion amid a complete paralysis of all international accountability mechanisms.”
A blatant violation of the Geneva convention
It is worth mentioning that targeting hospitals is a blatant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning the protection of civilians during war, which prohibits targeting hospitals under any circumstances. This constitutes a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and in the broader context, part of the genocide against the residents of the Gaza Strip
