UN Warns of Deepening Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza As Israeli Strikes Cripple Key Hospital
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Saturday raised urgent concern over a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, amid continued Israeli bombardment and a blockade that has left civilians facing widespread hunger.
“All basic supplies are running out in Gaza. It means babies and children are going to bed hungry,” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, in a statement.
The agency noted that “six weeks into the Israeli-imposed siege blocking the entry of aid and commercial supplies, food stocks are nearly gone, bakeries closed, and hunger is spreading.”
UNRWA stressed that “immediate action is needed to prevent a deepening humanitarian crisis.”
On March 18, Israel resumed its military assault on Gaza, ending a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal that had been in place since January.
Early Sunday, Israeli airstrikes targeted Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in central Gaza, destroying its main reception area and knocking the hospital out of service.
Two missiles hit the hospital’s reception department, causing fires and extensive damage to the emergency ward, laboratory, and pharmacy, according to Anadolu Agency’s correspondent in the area.
Medical personnel at the scene confirmed the facility could no longer receive casualties from ongoing air raids.
Located in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, the hospital had served as a critical healthcare hub for over one million residents in Gaza and North Gaza governorates following the destruction of several major hospitals since October 2023.
In a statement, Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israel had “committed a new horrific war crime” by targeting a facility housing patients, injured civilians, and medical staff.
“This cowardly aggression is not the first of its kind,” it said, referencing the October 17, 2023 bombing of the same hospital that killed 471 Palestinians and injured hundreds more.
The office said that Israel is “deliberately targeting health institutions as part of a systematic campaign to collapse Gaza’s healthcare system.”
It added that 34 hospitals have so far been destroyed or rendered inoperable.
The statement held Israel, along with the United States and European governments including the UK, Germany, and France, “fully responsible for this latest attack.”
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas also condemned the hospital strike, as “a new war crime” and said Israel is “acting with impunity under American cover.”
“This criminal act confirms that we are facing a rogue regime that disregards all humanitarian laws,” Hamas said, urging Arab, Islamic, and international bodies to take “immediate action to halt Israel’s genocidal war.”
Founded in 1882 and run by the Anglican Episcopal Church in Jerusalem, Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital is among Gaza’s oldest medical institutions.
It had become the principal hospital in northern Gaza following the destruction of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and other major facilities earlier in the conflict.
With most of Gaza’s hospitals either destroyed or severely damaged, Al-Ahli had been treating dozens of injured civilians each day since Israel resumed its military campaign in March.
More than 50,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of Israel’s offensive in October 2023.
The International Criminal Court in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its criminal conduct in the enclave.
