In a new denunciable violation showcasing the systematic targeting of Gaza’s health sector, the Israeli occupation forces struck a displaced-persons tent inside the grounds of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah early Monday. This marks the fourteenth time the hospital has been attacked since the genocidal war began on 7 October 2023.
Local sources report that the strike hit near the hospital’s outpatient clinic, causing injuries to civilians and patients, and inflicting significant structural damage that threatens the lives of dozens within the medical facility.
This attack fits a pattern of repeated strikes on health and humanitarian infrastructure, clear violations of international humanitarian law. As with prior assaults, this latest bombing reaffirms the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s health system and the deprivation of essential medical care, a key indicator of an ongoing genocide targeting the sustainability of Palestinian life.
These strikes on hospitals and displaced families seeking refuge cannot be dismissed as “collateral damage.” They represent a calculated, and grave, offense against civilians and protected medical personnel.
International humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions, expressly prohibits attacks on hospitals, healthcare workers, and civilians under medical care. Nonetheless, the occupation repeatedly flouts these protections, transforming hospitals from places of sanctuary into scenes of devastation.
The continued targeting of healthcare facilities deepens the humanitarian crisis and underscores the urgent need for international protection and intervention.
Since 7 October 2023, the occupation’s comprehensive campaign has included direct killing, starvation, widespread destruction, and forced displacement. To date, the death toll has reached 63,459, with 160,256 injuries, most of them women and children. Over 9,000 people remain missing, and hundreds of thousands are internally displaced, living in dire, life-threatening conditions. The hunger crisis has claimed 339 Palestinian lives, including 124 children.
These figures, coupled with the deliberate policies unleashed upon Gaza, transcend the framework of armed conflict and constitute a crime of genocide in every respect, an assault on the very foundations of Palestinian life: food, health, security, occurring under the guise of global silence.
