Israeli strike on Gaza hospital caused child's death: WHO chief
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The disruption of care caused by the Israeli airstrike on the hospital has resulted in a child's death.
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A relative mourns over the body of Abdullah Habbash before his funeral, along with six brothers from the Abu Mahadi family, all members of a Palestinian charity organization, who were killed in an Israeli strike on their car in Deir al-Balah on April 13, 2025 (AP)
A child died because of an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza hospital, the head of the World Health Organization announced.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed on X that a "child died due to disruption of care."
He detailed, citing the director of Gaza's Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, that "the emergency room, laboratory, emergency room X-ray machines and the pharmacy were destroyed."
Al-Ahli hospital in #Gaza is out of service following this morning’s evacuation order and attack - @WHO has received an update from the hospital’s director. A child died due to disruption of care.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 13, 2025
The emergency room, laboratory, emergency room X-ray machines and the pharmacy…
"The hospital was forced to move 50 patients to other hospitals. 40 critical patients couldn't be moved," he said, noting that this is caused by "Israel" although "hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law."
"Attacks on health care must stop," he asserted, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Marwan al-Hams, Director of Field Hospitals in the Gaza Strip, has warned that putting the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital out of service has left nearly one million people without access to emergency or ambulance care.
This comes shortly after dozens of patients and medical workers were forced out of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip before Israeli aircraft bombed the medical facility.
The hospital is the only remaining functional medical facility in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip after the healthcare infrastructure was completely dismantled in previous Israeli attacks.
Speaking to Al Mayadeen, al-Hams stressed that no medicine, medical supplies, or fuel had entered the Strip in over 40 days. He also revealed that most hospital oxygen stations are now out of service, placing the lives of dozens of patients in immediate danger.
“The remaining hospitals in Gaza are severely under-equipped and unable to provide essential medical and surgical care,” al-Hams stressed, sounding the alarm over a looming collapse of the healthcare system. He urged the international community to act urgently, warning that “without intervention from the free world, Gaza’s entire medical infrastructure could collapse.”
It is worth noting that the hospital's courtyard was bombed by Israeli occupation forces on October 17, 2023, in a harrowing massacre. At the time, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that 471 Palestinians were massacred and 342 were injured.
Regional sides condemn IOF strike on Gaza hospital amid West's silence
Multiple governments and political groups have issued strong condemnations in response to the Israeli bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, one of the few functioning hospitals in Gaza, denouncing the strike as a grave violation of international law and a heinous crime against civilians.
The Israeli occupation military claimed it had targeted a Hamas "command and control centre" operating within the facility.
A video circulating on social media shows the aftermath of the Israeli bombing of the Al-Ahli #BaptistHospital in #Gaza. #AlMayadeen's correspondent reported early on Sunday that dozens of patients and medical workers were forced out of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the… pic.twitter.com/AgjbQVzYeC
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 13, 2025
Since the outbreak of war, tens of thousands of Gaza residents have sought refuge in hospitals, many of which have suffered severe damage as a result of Israeli strikes.
"The bombing led to the destruction of the surgery building and the oxygen generation station for the intensive care units," Gaza's Civil Defense rescue agency said.
It came "minutes after the [Israeli] army's warning to evacuate," the agency added.
Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.
