The Israeli army attacked at least 10 hospitals and clinics in the Gaza Strip over the past week as part of its intensified campaign in the territory.
An investigation by Israeli newspaper Haaretz published on Saturday revealed that 10 hospitals and medical centres in Gaza were subject to attacks over the past week, resulting in their complete or partial shutdown and putting additional pressure on what remains of Gaza’s health system.
According to Haaretz, last week’s attack on the European Hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, marked the starting point for Israel’s expanded military operation.
Khan Younis, also the enclave’s second largest city after Gaza City, has come under heavy bombardment and mass displacement since the Israeli government approved plans to widen the offensive earlier this month.
'Operation Gideon’s Chariots' was approved by the cabinet on 4 May and executed on 18 May.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recorded a total of 28 attacks on hospitals in Gaza during the past week, which include recurring attacks on the same health facilities, Haaretz reported.
This, the newspaper added, constituted four percent of the total attacks on hospitals since the start of the war.
Gaza’s health ministry says there are now approximately 400,000 people without any available medical services.
The Israeli army continues to claim, without proof, that Hamas fighters are hiding in hospitals and using them as bases for their operations – a claim Hamas has outright denied.
Like much of its infrastructure and essential services, Gaza’s healthcare system has been battered by the Israeli war ongoing since 7 October 2023.
Earlier this week, WHO said Israel’s "intensified military operations in Gaza are pushing the health system to collapse".
According to the global organisation, at least 94 percent of all hospitals in the Palestinian territory are damaged or destroyed, and only 19 of 36 hospitals remain only partially functional.
"Four major hospitals have closed in the last week due to attacks, evacuation orders, and increasing hostilities," WHO said in a statement posted on X on Thursday.
It added that the northern part of the Gaza Strip "has been stripped of nearly all healthcare," while the few remaining hospitals in the south are "overwhelmed and at imminent risk of shutting down".
Israel resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on 18 March following a two-month truce with the Palestinian Hamas group that saw dozens of Israeli and foreign captives exchanged for thousands of Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The Israeli military has effectively cut the enclave in half, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza – has said Israel will fully conquer Gaza.
The war since 2023 has killed over 53,900 people and wounded over 122,600 others, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The actual death toll could be significantly higher as thousands are believed to still be buried beneath the rubble.
Israel very recently lifted its two-month total siege on Gaza, allowing limited humanitarian aid into the territory which the UN and aid groups say is not enough.
Mediated talks to reach a ceasefire are yet to yield results.