Imagine you’re a doctor in Gaza, working in one of the last hospitals still standing. It’s May 13, 2025, and you’re at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, trying to keep patients alive with dwindling supplies. Suddenly, the ground shakes, and the sky lights up with explosions. Nine massive bombs hit the hospital’s courtyard, leaving craters, burying cars, and killing at least 28 people. Patients, some as young as toddlers, are rushed out in panic as the walls crack and water pipes burst. This wasn’t just an attack—it was a gut punch to a community already on its knees. Here’s what happened that night, who was affected, and what it means in a war that’s tearing Gaza apart.
The Night Everything Changed
It was just after 6 p.m. when the bombs fell. Witnesses say Israeli warplanes unleashed a barrage of bunker-busting bombs—likely heavy-duty ones like GBU-28s—right on the hospital’s courtyard. The blasts were so powerful they flipped a bus into a crater and sent smoke billowing into the evening sky. Dr. Tom Potokar, a British surgeon volunteering with the Ideals charity, was inside when he heard “six huge explosions, one after another, no warning.” He described the chaos: patients with open wounds, kids screaming, staff running as the building shook. The hospital’s director, Imad al-Hout, said the strikes cut off the water supply, damaged walls, and forced most of the 200 patients to flee to Nasser Hospital, which was already swamped.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported at least 16 dead and 70 injured, though Gaza’s Civil Defence Agency put the death toll at 28. Among them was Hassan Aslih, a Palestinian journalist who’d been recovering from burns caused by an earlier Israeli strike. A BBC freelancer was wounded but stable, and two civil defence workers were hit by a drone while trying to help. People on the ground described a horrific scene—bodies scattered, ambulances unable to reach the wounded because Israeli drones were still circling. Nermeen Ziyad Abo Mostafa, a medical student, posted on Instagram, her voice shaking: “My heart almost stopped, a continuous belt of fire.” It was a night of terror for everyone there.
Israel’s Reasoning, Hamas’s Rebuttal
The Israeli military said the strike was a “precise” hit on a Hamas “command and control center” hidden under the hospital. They claimed senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, brother of the late Yahya Sinwar, was holding a meeting in a tunnel network, possibly stretching from the nearby Jenin Secondary School for Boys to the hospital. Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself greenlit the strike, hoping to take out Sinwar without risking Israeli hostages. But they haven’t shown hard proof of the tunnel or Hamas’s presence, and that’s where things get murky.
Hamas flat-out denied using the hospital, calling the attack a deliberate attempt to crush Gaza’s healthcare system. “Israel’s been using these excuses to kill civilians,” they said in a statement. Sky News and munitions experts poked holes in Israel’s claims, pointing out that IDF footage supposedly showing a tunnel actually focused on the school, not the hospital. International law says hospitals are protected unless they’re actively used for military purposes, and legal experts told BBC Verify that hitting one without warning could be a war crime. For now, the truth is buried under rubble and conflicting stories.
A Healthcare System on Its Last Legs
The European Hospital wasn’t the only one hit that day. Hours earlier, Nasser Hospital took a strike that killed two, including journalist Hassan Aslih. Gaza’s health system is barely hanging on after 19 months of war. Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostages, Israel’s response has left over 52,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Only 21 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partly functional, says the World Health Organization, and a nearly three-month Israeli aid blockade has left them short of medicine, bandages, even soap. Dr. Milena Chee, an ICU doctor at the European Hospital, said her ward had three kids on ventilators with nowhere to go. “We’ve got no water, no tissues, nothing,” she told ABC News.
The timing of the strike raised questions. It came right after Hamas released Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, sparking brief hope for a ceasefire. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was in Doha pushing for a deal, but Netanyahu vowed to keep fighting, even if more hostages were freed. Some speculate the strike was a bold move to kill Mohammed Sinwar, who’d need to sign off on any ceasefire. Hamas denies he’s dead, and the IDF’s still checking. Either way, the attack sent a message—and it cost lives.
The Human Toll and the World’s Reaction
For those in Gaza, the strike was pure devastation. Journalist Hussien Khreis filmed himself running through the hospital’s courtyard, yelling, “They bombed the European Hospital, oh God!” A witness told Al Jazeera the ground “split open and swallowed people.” Dr. Atef Al-Hout at Nasser Hospital said his staff were grieving, treating the wounded, and feeling like targets themselves. The Committee to Protect Journalists says 178 journalists have been killed in the region since the war started, with Gaza’s media office citing 215.
The world didn’t stay quiet. French President Emmanuel Macron called Netanyahu’s approach “shameful,” pushing for European sanctions. UN chief António Guterres demanded aid access to Gaza, while Canada’s foreign minister accused Israel of weaponizing food shortages. On X, users like @RamAbdu shared raw accounts of bodies and blocked ambulances, while @Mr_Andrew_Fox noted the strike’s proximity to a possible Hamas tunnel, capturing the war’s messy reality—Israel hunting militants, but civilians paying the price.
Why This Hurts
This strike isn’t just about one hospital. It’s a snapshot of a war that’s displaced 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and pushed them toward starvation. Hospitals, meant to be safe havens, are now battlegrounds. Israel says Hamas hides in them; Hamas says that’s a lie to justify attacks. Without clear evidence, the world’s left arguing over who’s right while doctors and patients die. For people like Mohammad al Arbid, who lost family in another strike, it’s a cry of despair:
“Why is there no relief?”
As the U.S. pushes for peace and Trump tours the Middle East, the European Hospital strike shows how high the stakes are. Killing a Hamas leader might hurt the group, but wrecking a hospital risks losing allies and hardening Hamas’s resolve. For Gaza’s people, caught in the crossfire, it’s just another day of loss in a war that feels endless.
The Night Everything Changed
It was just after 6 p.m. when the bombs fell. Witnesses say Israeli warplanes unleashed a barrage of bunker-busting bombs—likely heavy-duty ones like GBU-28s—right on the hospital’s courtyard. The blasts were so powerful they flipped a bus into a crater and sent smoke billowing into the evening sky. Dr. Tom Potokar, a British surgeon volunteering with the Ideals charity, was inside when he heard “six huge explosions, one after another, no warning.” He described the chaos: patients with open wounds, kids screaming, staff running as the building shook. The hospital’s director, Imad al-Hout, said the strikes cut off the water supply, damaged walls, and forced most of the 200 patients to flee to Nasser Hospital, which was already swamped.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported at least 16 dead and 70 injured, though Gaza’s Civil Defence Agency put the death toll at 28. Among them was Hassan Aslih, a Palestinian journalist who’d been recovering from burns caused by an earlier Israeli strike. A BBC freelancer was wounded but stable, and two civil defence workers were hit by a drone while trying to help. People on the ground described a horrific scene—bodies scattered, ambulances unable to reach the wounded because Israeli drones were still circling. Nermeen Ziyad Abo Mostafa, a medical student, posted on Instagram, her voice shaking: “My heart almost stopped, a continuous belt of fire.” It was a night of terror for everyone there.
Israel’s Reasoning, Hamas’s Rebuttal
The Israeli military said the strike was a “precise” hit on a Hamas “command and control center” hidden under the hospital. They claimed senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, brother of the late Yahya Sinwar, was holding a meeting in a tunnel network, possibly stretching from the nearby Jenin Secondary School for Boys to the hospital. Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself greenlit the strike, hoping to take out Sinwar without risking Israeli hostages. But they haven’t shown hard proof of the tunnel or Hamas’s presence, and that’s where things get murky.
Hamas flat-out denied using the hospital, calling the attack a deliberate attempt to crush Gaza’s healthcare system. “Israel’s been using these excuses to kill civilians,” they said in a statement. Sky News and munitions experts poked holes in Israel’s claims, pointing out that IDF footage supposedly showing a tunnel actually focused on the school, not the hospital. International law says hospitals are protected unless they’re actively used for military purposes, and legal experts told BBC Verify that hitting one without warning could be a war crime. For now, the truth is buried under rubble and conflicting stories.
A Healthcare System on Its Last Legs
The European Hospital wasn’t the only one hit that day. Hours earlier, Nasser Hospital took a strike that killed two, including journalist Hassan Aslih. Gaza’s health system is barely hanging on after 19 months of war. Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostages, Israel’s response has left over 52,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Only 21 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partly functional, says the World Health Organization, and a nearly three-month Israeli aid blockade has left them short of medicine, bandages, even soap. Dr. Milena Chee, an ICU doctor at the European Hospital, said her ward had three kids on ventilators with nowhere to go. “We’ve got no water, no tissues, nothing,” she told ABC News.
The timing of the strike raised questions. It came right after Hamas released Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, sparking brief hope for a ceasefire. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was in Doha pushing for a deal, but Netanyahu vowed to keep fighting, even if more hostages were freed. Some speculate the strike was a bold move to kill Mohammed Sinwar, who’d need to sign off on any ceasefire. Hamas denies he’s dead, and the IDF’s still checking. Either way, the attack sent a message—and it cost lives.
The Human Toll and the World’s Reaction
For those in Gaza, the strike was pure devastation. Journalist Hussien Khreis filmed himself running through the hospital’s courtyard, yelling, “They bombed the European Hospital, oh God!” A witness told Al Jazeera the ground “split open and swallowed people.” Dr. Atef Al-Hout at Nasser Hospital said his staff were grieving, treating the wounded, and feeling like targets themselves. The Committee to Protect Journalists says 178 journalists have been killed in the region since the war started, with Gaza’s media office citing 215.
The world didn’t stay quiet. French President Emmanuel Macron called Netanyahu’s approach “shameful,” pushing for European sanctions. UN chief António Guterres demanded aid access to Gaza, while Canada’s foreign minister accused Israel of weaponizing food shortages. On X, users like @RamAbdu shared raw accounts of bodies and blocked ambulances, while @Mr_Andrew_Fox noted the strike’s proximity to a possible Hamas tunnel, capturing the war’s messy reality—Israel hunting militants, but civilians paying the price.
Why This Hurts
This strike isn’t just about one hospital. It’s a snapshot of a war that’s displaced 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and pushed them toward starvation. Hospitals, meant to be safe havens, are now battlegrounds. Israel says Hamas hides in them; Hamas says that’s a lie to justify attacks. Without clear evidence, the world’s left arguing over who’s right while doctors and patients die. For people like Mohammad al Arbid, who lost family in another strike, it’s a cry of despair:
“Why is there no relief?”
As the U.S. pushes for peace and Trump tours the Middle East, the European Hospital strike shows how high the stakes are. Killing a Hamas leader might hurt the group, but wrecking a hospital risks losing allies and hardening Hamas’s resolve. For Gaza’s people, caught in the crossfire, it’s just another day of loss in a war that feels endless.
