Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza’s Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood issued a desperate plea to the international community on Thursday after an Israeli airstrike ignited a massive fire in its medicine warehouse.

The blaze, described as uncontrollable, threatens patients and staff as civil defense teams remain unable to access the facility due to Israel’s intensified military operations and ongoing siege of the region.

Hospital officials called on the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and United Nations agencies to intervene immediately to extinguish the fire and preserve Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system. Without swift action, administrators warn, northern Gaza faces a total breakdown of medical services amid a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by months of bombardment and a blockade halting medical and food supplies.

The attack on Al-Awda Hospital is part of a broader assault on Gaza’s medical infrastructure. On the same day, Israeli forces shelled the hospital’s reception area, following earlier attacks on the Indonesian Hospital and repeated strikes on Kamal Adwan Hospital. While Israel claims Gaza’s hospitals serve military purposes, no credible evidence supports these allegations. International investigations have instead documented Israel’s targeting of civilian infrastructure, with many labeling the campaign as genocidal.

The war, ongoing since October 2023, has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, predominantly women and children. As the fire at Al-Awda continues to rage, health officials warn that without urgent international pressure to halt Israel’s aggression and allow humanitarian access, Gaza’s remaining hospitals may cease functioning, risking thousands more lives. (ILKHA)