'Israel' ravages Gaza: Starving families watch hospitals turn to ash
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The WHO and WFP warn of famine and medical collapse, with only 19 hospitals still operating under severe conditions.
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Najia al-Najjar feeds her 5-month-old baby, Yousef, who suffers from malnutrition, at a clinic in Nasser hospital, Khan Younis, Gaza, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP)
At least 33 Palestinians were killed since Friday dawn, following a wave of continuous Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, with dozens more injured, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported. The attacks, which began early in the morning, have targeted civilian homes and infrastructure, exacerbating an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Mohammed al-Mughayyer, Director of Medical Supplies at Civil Defense, reported that Israeli warplanes struck civilian areas in both central and southern Gaza. The majority of casualties are women and children, highlighting the vulnerability of non-combatants amid severe shortages in medical services and essential supplies.
Lying on the ground as if asleep...
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) May 22, 2025
A young girl was killed along with three members of her family in a brutal airstrike that hit their home in the heart of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/QNmWI8Vs9l
A new massacre unfolded in New Aabasan, east of Khan Younis, as Israeli warplanes bombed the Daghmeh family home. At least 11 people were confirmed martyred, including women and children, while several others remain in critical condition amid mounting devastation.
Al-Awda Hospital's medicine warehouse set ablaze
In a parallel development, Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza issued an urgent appeal following an Israeli airstrike that set its medicine warehouse ablaze. The fire continues to burn, posing an imminent threat to the lives of patients and medical personnel and worsening the region’s already collapsing health sector.
Israeli artillery and airstrikes also targeted the al-Shujaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, causing widespread destruction and multiple injuries. In the al-Zaytoun district, shelling extended, further intensifying civilian suffering.
The fear in this child's eyes breaks my heart
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) May 22, 2025
She is taking shelter with her father in Gaza pic.twitter.com/En91YyGod1
Last night in Jabalia al-Balad, northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike demolished a residential building. Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that more than 70 people were either martyred or remain missing under the rubble.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued the demolition of residential homes around the Civil Administration area east of Jabalia in northern Gaza, displacing more families under relentless bombardment.
Famine looms amid ongoing blockade
In central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, an Israeli drone strike killed six aid security personnel. The Government Media Office in Gaza described the event as a horrific massacre and condemned the targeting of individuals involved in humanitarian coordination.
A handful of bakeries in #Gaza are baking bread again after receiving limited supplies overnight.
— World Food Programme (@WFP) May 22, 2025
This is a critical first step — but assistance must be scaled up. More essential food is needed to push back the risk of famine.
Bread alone is not enough for people to survive. pic.twitter.com/unzMc5I0wY
On its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) posted on X that a small number of bakeries in Gaza had resumed bread production after receiving limited supplies overnight. However, the agency warned: “This is a critical first step — but assistance must be scaled up. More essential food is needed to push back the risk of famine. Bread alone is not enough for people to survive.”
A handful of bakeries in #Gaza are baking bread again after receiving limited supplies overnight.
— World Food Programme (@WFP) May 22, 2025
This is a critical first step — but assistance must be scaled up. More essential food is needed to push back the risk of famine.
Bread alone is not enough for people to survive. pic.twitter.com/unzMc5I0wY
In a similar vein, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivered a deeply emotional intervention at the World Health Organization’s annual assembly, issuing a powerful warning about the catastrophic humanitarian and health conditions in Gaza and urging global leaders to end the suffering and pursue a political solution.
Speaking from personal experience, Tedros, 60, reflected on his own wartime upbringing in Ethiopia and expressed profound empathy for Palestinians in Gaza enduring relentless Israeli attacks.
“I can feel how people in Gaza would feel at the moment. I can smell it. I can visualise it. I can hear even the sounds. And this is because of PTSD,” he said.
Condemning the weaponization of essentials, he added, “You can imagine how people are suffering. It's really wrong to weaponise food. It's very wrong to weaponise medical supplies.”
First aid trucks enter Gaza since total blockade
On Thursday, the United Nations began distributing approximately 90 truckloads of humanitarian aid, the first to enter Gaza since "Israel" imposed a complete blockade on March 2. However, the scant delivery remains far from sufficient to address the territory’s soaring needs.
The WHO reported that only 19 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially operational. Staff continue to work under what the organization described as “impossible conditions.”
“At least 94 percent of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip are damaged or destroyed,” the UN health agency stated. In the northern region of Gaza, nearly all health infrastructure has been wiped out.
Only 2,000 hospital beds are still functional across the besieged territory, a figure described as “grossly insufficient” for the needs of over 2 million people.
WHO urges an end to destruction, famine
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan painted a dire picture of the situation on the ground: “2.1 million people in Gaza are in imminent danger of death."
“We need to end the starvation, we need to release all hostages, and we need to resupply and bring the health system back online," he further warned.
The WHO emphasized that the destruction of Gaza’s medical system is not incidental, but systematic.
“Hospitals are rehabilitated and resupplied, only to be exposed to hostilities or attacked again. This destructive cycle must end,” the agency declared.
Four major hospitals have been forced to suspend operations in the past week due to either direct attacks or proximity to evacuation zones.
In his closing remarks, Tedros appealed directly to conscience: “I ask if you can have mercy. It's good for you and good for the Palestinians. It's good for humanity.”
WFP bakeries reopen in South Gaza amid worsening starvation
A small number of bakeries backed by the UN World Food Program (WFP) resumed limited operations in southern Gaza on Thursday, following the entry of modest flour supplies into the besieged, Israeli-blockaded enclave.
“Flour was allowed into Gaza on Wednesday, and we began to work immediately amid the current starvation in the area,” bakery owner Ahmed al-Benna told Anadolu.
Benna’s bakery had remained closed for two months, ever since "Israel" shut all Gaza border crossings on March 2 and barred the entry of flour and humanitarian aid into the Strip.
While bakeries in the south have started operating, Palestinians in northern Gaza remain trapped in severe hunger, with no flour deliveries reaching the area to date.
According to Benna, the WFP will handle bread distribution to civilians, though he did not elaborate on how this would be carried out.
Earlier, on April 6, the WFP had announced the shutdown of all 25 bakeries under its support due to acute shortages of fuel and flour. By April 25, the agency reported it had depleted all food stocks previously used to provide hot meals to the population.
Since the imposition of a full blockade on March 2, "Israel" has obstructed the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, driving the territory into famine conditions that have already resulted in fatalities. So far, only 87 aid trucks have reportedly been allowed in, an amount far below the urgent needs of the population, with significant quantities of aid still stalled at crossing points.
