Last functioning hospital in Gaza’s north ‘out of service’ amid Israeli attacks

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The last functioning hospital in the northern Gaza Strip stopped operating on Tuesday, the Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave said.

“The Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was forced out of service due to Israeli bombardment, siege and arrest of medics,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

At least 471 people were killed and many injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on Oct. 17, according to health officials in Gaza. Israel, however, still denies responsibility for the strike.

The Israeli army accuses Hamas of using hospitals in Gaza for military purposes, an accusation vehemently denied by the Palestinian resistance group.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, killing at least 19,667 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 52,586 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio