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Teen among dead as Israeli airstrike destroys Gaza hospital
By isabelle // 2025-03-24
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  • Israel struck Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, killing multiple patients, including a 16-year-old boy, and destroying critical medical infrastructure.
  • The attack forced evacuations and left the hospital in ruins, part of a systematic campaign targeting Gaza’s healthcare system.
  • Witnesses described chaos as doctors struggled amid collapsing ceilings and smoke, with Gaza’s Health Ministry confirming at least five deaths.
  • Nasser Hospital has faced repeated Israeli assaults, including a 2024 siege where mass graves were later uncovered.
  • Over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since October, with Israel’s actions widely condemned as war crimes and genocide.
In yet another brutal escalation of its war on Gaza, Israel targeted Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis late Sunday, killing multiple patients—including a 16-year-old boy—and destroying critical medical infrastructure. The strike, which Israel cynically justified as targeting a Hamas operative, forced the evacuation of an entire department and left the hospital reeling under flames and rubble. This attack is not an anomaly but part of a deliberate, systematic campaign to dismantle Gaza’s healthcare system and terrorize its civilian population. Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed at least five deaths, with witnesses describing scenes of chaos as doctors struggled to save patients amid collapsing ceilings and billowing smoke. Among the dead was Ismail Barhoum, a senior Hamas political figure receiving treatment — an act Israel shamelessly labeled a "precision strike." But the real victims were the civilians trapped inside, including a teenager who had just undergone surgery days earlier.

A hospital under siege

Nasser Hospital is no stranger to Israeli violence. From February to April 2024, Israeli forces besieged the facility, turning it into what United Nations officials called a "place of death." Snipers shot at medical staff, and when troops withdrew, a mass grave of over 300 bodies was uncovered—some showing signs of torture. Now, history repeats itself. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon at Nasser Hospital, told Al Jazeera: "I operated on [the 16-year-old]. He probably would have gone home tomorrow, but now he’s dead." The surgical ward, he said, was obliterated: "Every door was blown off its hinges. The ceiling has collapsed. It’s completely unusable." Israel’s military claims it targets Hamas, but its actions tell a different story. Hospitals, once sanctuaries under international law, are now graveyards.

A pattern of atrocities

This is not an isolated incident. Since breaking a ceasefire on March 18, Israel has killed over 600 Palestinians, with Khan Younis and Rafah bearing the brunt. The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 50,000—more than half women and children — yet Israel continues its bombardment with impunity. Hamas condemned the strike as a "cowardly Zionist assassination," but the broader crime is Israel’s wholesale destruction of Gaza’s lifelines. The Red Crescent lost contact with a 10-member emergency team in Rafah after Israel fired on what it called "suspicious vehicles" that were later revealed to be ambulances. Meanwhile, displaced families flee under fire. "The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us," said Amal Nassar, one of thousands forced into squalid tent camps. "The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?"

A genocide unfolding

Israel’s strategy is clear: render Gaza uninhabitable. By bombing hospitals, blocking aid, and displacing millions, it seeks not just to crush Hamas but to erase Palestinian life. Legal experts and human rights groups have long warned these actions constitute war crimes, yet the world watches in silence. Dr. Sidhwa’s words resonate: "Benjamin Netanyahu has been ill recently. Well, he stands accused of genocide. Nobody thinks Hamas can bomb a hospital because Benjamin Netanyahu happens to go there. That’s crazy. That's completely insane. You don’t bomb hospitals. Everybody knows that." But Israel does. Again and again. The attack on Nasser Hospital is not just another airstrike — it’s a snapshot of Israel’s genocidal intent. As Gaza’s healthcare system collapses and its people are pushed toward annihilation, the international community’s inaction becomes complicity. If this is not a call to halt the slaughter, what is? The bombs keep falling. The graves keep growing. And the world looks away. Sources for this article include: MiddleEastEye.net APNews.com AlJazeera.com
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