Tragic Night: Israeli Airstrikes Devastate Gaza Hospital

CAIRO (AP) — A series of Israeli airstrikes targeted Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 23 people, including three children, and overwhelming local hospitals with casualties. The assault marked a shocking end to a two-month ceasefire.

The strikes began around 1:30 a.m., with a visiting British doctor, Sakib Rokadiya, witnessing the missiles illuminating the night sky. A nearby Palestinian surgeon could only gasp in horror and immediately headed for the emergency ward at Nasser Hospital, which is the largest medical facility in southern Gaza. Rokadiya described the influx of victims as a devastating scene: “Just child after child, young patient after young patient. The vast, vast majority were women, children, and the elderly.”

Within hours, more than 300 casualties flooded into the hospital, according to officials. The Health Ministry of Gaza reported hundreds more were injured, but the figures do not differentiate between the combatants and the civilians caught in the chaos.

Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American pediatrician volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians, detailed the frantic atmosphere: “I was overwhelmed, running from corner to corner, trying to find out who to prioritize, who to send to the operating room, who to declare a case that’s not salvageable.” Several children were admitted with severe injuries, including one girl with shrapnel in her abdomen.

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, another trauma surgeon, recounted his experience as he attempted to treat the injured. “The very first little girl I saw — 3 or 4 years old — was too far gone. Her face was mangled by shrapnel. She was technically still alive, but with so many other casualties, there was nothing we could do.” In total, he performed around 15 surgeries that day.

Among the many suffering was a young boy whose injuries were severe, including multiple perforations in his heart and stomach. Despite attempting to repair the damage, he did not survive. Dr. Sidhwa lamented the conditions in the intensive care unit, stating: “They died because the ICU simply does not have the capacity to care for them.”

The tragedy struck not only the victims but also the medical staff. Khaled Alserr, a Palestinian surgeon, had just lost family members in the violence and was tasked with treating the wounded while grappling with his own grief. He described his work in the morgue as a nightmare: “The only thing I saw was like a packet of meat and bones, melted and fractured.”

The violence escalated as Israel’s sudden bombardment marked a stark return to conflict aimed at pressuring Hamas regarding hostages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government cited the need for military action, despite calls for a renewed ceasefire.

Casualty counts are grim, with the Health Ministry stating that around 50,000 Palestinians have died and more than 113,000 have been injured during the ongoing conflict. The numbers continue to rise as violence continues, with this latest offensive contributing to the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history, according to U.N. reports.

“I cannot process or comprehend the scale of mass killing and massacre of families in their sleep that we are seeing here,” said Haj-Hassan, reflecting on the catastrophic impact of the airstrikes. “This can’t be the world we’re living in.”

The conflict persists, with many calling for international intervention to halt the violence and provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered citizens of Gaza.