Israeli strike hits Gaza hospital 2 days after last major functioning health facility knocked “out of service”

Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding 10 other people, the hospital’s director said. The strike that hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area was the second on a Gaza health facility in three days, coming after the last major hospital still providing critical care in the Palestinian enclave was hit Sunday in an attack the United Nations said had left it “out of service.”

Israel’s attacks in Gaza have continued for almost a month, since the country abandoned a ceasefire with Hamas that had been negotiated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Efforts to strike a new ceasefire agreement have made little apparent headway since then, though Hamas has said it is considering a new proposal from Israel this week. 

Multiple news agencies cited Hamas officials as saying Israel had offered a 45-day halt in the fighting in exchange for the release of hostages. But Hamas officials cited by multiple news agencies reiterated that their would be no ceasefire agreement without a commitment by Israel to end the war and withdraw forces from Gaza. Hamas officials were also quoted as saying Israel had included a demand for the group to agree to disarm — something one representative was quoted as saying “is not up for discussions.”

Israel’s government had not confirmed the new offer to Hamas as of Tuesday afternoon.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter in sprawling tent camps around the Kuwaiti Field Hospital, but the wounded from Tuesday’s strike were all patients and medics, including two patients who were left in critical condition, according to hospital spokesman Saber Mohammed.

There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the Tuesday strike. The IDF has bombed hospitals on several occasions during the 18-month war, accusing Hamas, which has long been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and Israel, of hiding out in them or using them for military purposes. Hamas and Gazan hospital staff have denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering civilians and deliberately gutting the territory’s health system.

On Sunday, Israel struck the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City after ordering an evacuation. The United Nations said a child patient with a reported head injury died while being evacuated, and the strike severely damaged the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings.

Al Ahli Hospital “is out of service,” Director-General of the U.N.’s World Health Program Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet, adding: “Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law. Attacks on health care must stop. Once again we repeat: patients, health workers and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Ceasefire.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman echoed that sentiment, saying: “Under international humanitarian law, wounded and sick, medical personnel and medical facilities, including hospitals, must be respected and protected,” according to the Reuters news agency.

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, also condemned the strike.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control center within the facility, without providing evidence. Hamas denied the allegations.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 51,000 people, according to an updated toll released by the Gaza Ministry of Health on Tuesday. That includes more than 1,600 people killed since Israel ended the ceasefire and resumed its offensive last month to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the agreement. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to Gaza’s Hamas-run government. Its casualty count is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up more than half of the dead. The offensive has destroyed much of the territory and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians.

The war was sparked by the Hamas-orchestrated Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 others taken as hostages back into Gaza. Israeli officials say 59 of those hostages remain in Gaza, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.