Gaza Hospital Airstrike Sparks Deadly Blaze, Five Killed \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ A tragic airstrike at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital courtyard in Gaza killed five people, including Shaban al-Dalu, a 19-year-old student, and his mother. The strike set off a blaze that devastated a tent camp sheltering displaced families, injuring over 60 others. Israel claimed to target militants, while the incident marks the seventh attack on the hospital since March, further highlighting the escalating violence.
Gaza Hospital Airstrike Quick Looks
- Five people, including 19-year-old Shaban al-Dalu and his mother, died when an airstrike triggered a fire at a tent camp in Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
- The camp sheltered displaced Palestinian families fleeing earlier conflicts, with dozens, including children, suffering severe burns.
- The Israeli military stated that the target was militants, though no evidence was provided; it was the seventh strike on the hospital since March.
- The conflict, which began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has resulted in over 42,000 Palestinian fatalities, with widespread displacement affecting more than 1.9 million people.
- Firefighters and volunteers struggled to control the blaze for hours, using makeshift methods, while multiple secondary explosions occurred during the chaos.
- The incident underscores the repeated targeting of civilian areas and hospitals, raising concerns about humanitarian safety and protection in Gaza.
Deep Look:
The early hours of Monday turned into a scene of horror for families taking shelter at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital courtyard in central Gaza. An airstrike, reportedly by Israeli forces, struck the tent camp, igniting a massive fire that consumed makeshift shelters and claimed five lives, including Shaban al-Dalu, a 19-year-old university student, and his 38-year-old mother, Alaa al-Dalu. This strike has raised renewed concerns over the safety of civilian areas, especially as the camp was a refuge for hundreds of Palestinians who had already fled from earlier attacks.
Shaban was recuperating from injuries sustained in a prior airstrike when the fire erupted. Just a week before, an air raid targeted a mosque near the hospital where he was reciting the Quran, leaving him with a head injury that required 11 stitches. Still recovering, he lay in the tent alongside his family when the latest strike hit around 1:30 a.m. local time, bringing tragedy to a family already living in fear.
Ahmed al-Dalu, Shaban’s father, was also present in the tent with his children. Despite managing to rescue three of his other children, he could not save his wife and eldest son. “My son was being burned in front of me,” Ahmed said, speaking through tears, his face marked with burns sustained during the rescue attempt. “I accepted the will of God in every sense of the word.” Shaban’s younger brother, Mohammed, was asleep at his vendor’s table nearby when the explosion shook him awake. He rushed to help but found his father and uncle already struggling to pull their families out of the flames.
The Israeli military stated that the airstrike targeted militants believed to be hiding among the displaced families, yet no evidence has been shared to substantiate this claim. This incident marks the seventh attack on the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital since March, and three of those strikes took place in September alone, according to the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, which has been supporting the hospital’s operations. The charity emphasized the lack of safety for civilians even in supposed sanctuaries like hospitals.
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has been marked by frequent airstrikes on densely populated areas, including shelters, hospitals, and schools. The war escalated on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the abduction of 250 individuals. Israel’s military response has been intense and sustained, leading to over 42,000 Palestinian deaths, as reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than half of these casualties have been women and children, and the conflict has displaced over 1.9 million people, out of Gaza’s total population of 2.3 million.
Throughout this period, Israeli forces have claimed that their operations target Hamas fighters allegedly using civilian spaces as bases for military action. However, repeated airstrikes on hospitals, shelters, and public areas have caused immense civilian suffering and damage. Despite claims of targeting militants, no verifiable evidence has been presented to justify the strikes on these vulnerable locations, raising international concerns over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
The aftermath of Monday’s airstrike was a chaotic and desperate scene. Firefighters, hospital staff, and displaced people joined forces to fight the raging blaze, but their efforts were hampered by limited resources. Armed only with small fire extinguishers and buckets of water, they struggled for hours to contain the fire. Several secondary explosions erupted during the incident, though the cause of these blasts remains unclear. By morning, the courtyard was a scene of utter devastation, filled with the charred remains of wooden and plastic tents, with personal belongings strewn amidst the debris.
“It’s a scene of devastation. Tents caught on fire while people were sleeping,” said Eliza Sabatini, a nurse with Doctors Without Borders who was working at the hospital. The fire led to over 60 injuries, including 10 children and 8 women. Many of the injured sustained severe burns, some so critical that immediate treatment was required. Amid the chaos, heartbreaking images emerged of wounded children, including a toddler with a bandaged head carried by a distraught man, and another small child receiving a blood transfusion on the crowded floor of the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, where many of the wounded were rushed.
Shaban al-Dalu was more than a victim of the airstrike; he was a symbol of resilience and hope in the face of adversity. The young computer science student had big dreams of building a better future beyond Gaza. Known for his care for his siblings and dedication to the Quran, Shaban frequently shared videos on social media, narrating his family’s struggle with displacement. In a video posted earlier this year, he stood in front of their tent, describing how his family had been forced to move five times since the conflict escalated, fleeing their home in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood to seek refuge from ongoing fighting.
“We live in a very hard circumstance,” Shaban said in the video. He had started an online fundraiser, hoping to gather enough funds to take his family to Egypt, away from the constant threats of war. By the time of his death, his campaign had raised over $24,200, but despite the funds, no one has been able to leave Gaza since Israeli forces took control of the border crossing with Egypt in May. “I used to have big dreams, but the war has ruined them,” he wrote on his GoFundMe page. “Time feels like it’s stopped in Gaza, and we’re stuck in a never-ending nightmare.”
His tragic end was compounded by the injuries sustained by his surviving family members. Shaban’s father, Ahmed, and three siblings who were also in the tent have been left with severe burns. According to Mohammed, Shaban’s younger brother Abdel-Rahman, just 11 years old, is now wrapped head to toe in bandages. Their sister has severe burns on her back and the left side of her face, highlighting the dire physical and emotional toll the strike has taken on the family.
The incident has brought to light the harsh realities of life in Gaza, where even hospitals, typically a sanctuary during conflicts, have become targets. Abdel-Hayy al-Dalu, Shaban’s uncle, recalled their initial feeling of relief upon reaching the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. “We built tents – me and my brother – and sheltered here,” he said, reflecting on how they believed the hospital would be safe. “We ruled out that it will be bombed since it’s a hospital.” However, the airstrike shattered that sense of security, leaving families like theirs scrambling to survive yet another disaster.
Despite rushing to rescue his brother’s family, Abdel-Hayy found himself powerless. “We couldn’t help them,” he said, recalling the helplessness they felt as they watched the flames engulf the tents. This latest tragedy underscores the dire need for increased humanitarian aid and calls for the protection of civilians in conflict zones, as the situation in Gaza grows ever more perilous.
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