Baptist Hospital in Gaza Struck for Fifth Time as IDF Warns of Hamas Exploiting Civilian Sites
By The Media Line Staff
The Israeli military struck a Hamas command center allegedly operating from within the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City early Sunday, following a pre-strike evacuation warning issued to patients and staff. No casualties were reported from the hospital attack itself, though Israeli airstrikes elsewhere in Gaza claimed at least 18 lives throughout the day, according to Palestinian reports.
The IDF and Shin Bet security agency stated the strike targeted “a Hamas command center embedded within a civilian medical facility,” accusing Hamas of violating international law by using the hospital as cover for military operations. The military said it used “precision munitions” and aerial surveillance to mitigate civilian harm and called on Hamas to stop “exploiting civilian infrastructure as human shields.”
Medics at al-Ahli confirmed that missiles destroyed the hospital’s emergency and reception departments. According to hospital officials, patients had been evacuated minutes before the attack after receiving a call from someone identifying as part of Israeli security forces. The Baptist Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East, which runs the hospital, said a child died during the rushed evacuation.
The church condemned the attack and said this was the fifth strike on al-Ahli since the war began. “We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions,” the Church said.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry claimed the hospital is now out of operation, with hundreds of patients displaced and unable to access treatment.
Additional strikes on Sunday targeted Hamas positions in Deir al-Balah, Jabalia, and Khan Younis, including a reported strike on Deir al-Balah’s municipality building that killed at least three. Another attack killed Ubayd Allah Na’im al-Hadhud Musa, identified by the IDF as deputy commander of a Hamas sniper cell. The IDF reported that 90 strikes were conducted in the past 48 hours.
Elsewhere, the IDF announced the capture of the Morag Corridor in southern Gaza, effectively severing Rafah from Khan Yunis. The IDF said its forces destroyed Hamas weapons depots and tunnels, including a 1.2-kilometer tunnel reaching 20 meters underground.
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