Israeli artillery struck Al-Durrah Children’s Hospital in Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood on Tuesday, causing extensive damage to critical medical infrastructure, including the intensive care unit (ICU) and alternative energy systems, the Gaza Health Ministry reported.

The attack has severely impaired the hospital’s ability to provide emergency care to young patients already grappling with dire shortages of fuel, medicine, and electricity due to Israel’s ongoing blockade.

“We denounce the Israeli occupation’s targeting of Al-Durrah Children’s Hospital,” the ministry said, condemning the latest escalation against healthcare facilities. “The occupation was not content with preventing medicine and food from reaching the children of Gaza but persists in depriving them of life.”

The ministry urgently called on international bodies and humanitarian organizations to intervene and provide protection for medical institutions, demanding that the Israeli military’s actions be criminalized under international law.

The hospital, which primarily treats young patients under siege conditions, has already been struggling with severe shortages of fuel, medicine, and electricity amid the ongoing Israeli blockade. The destruction of its alternative energy systems is expected to severely hinder its ability to provide emergency care.

This latest attack comes amid growing concern over Israel’s continued defiance of international norms. Avigdor Lieberman, former Israeli minister and a prominent right-wing politician, further stoked outrage by declaring that “no aid should be allowed into Gaza”, reinforcing the state’s hardline stance on the blockade.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli military operations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of at least 51,201 Palestinians, with 116,869 more injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. The majority of the casualties are reported to be women and children.

The targeting of hospitals, schools, and civilian shelters in the besieged Strip has prompted renewed international criticism, with humanitarian organizations warning that Gaza’s health system is nearing total collapse. (ILKHA)