A deadly airstrike on the biggest hospital in the southern Gaza Strip highlighted the devastation that Israel’s campaign has wreaked on the Palestinian territory’s healthcare system over the past three years.
asserted
campaign → highlight → years
The strike that hit Nasser Hospital’s surgical wing killed six people, including a surgeon and a 13-year-old boy, and heavily damaged operating rooms and patient wards.
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that → hit → rooms
The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander using the hospital as a base, though it did not provide evidence for the claim.
uncertain
it → say → claim
Israel has carried out near daily strikes in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that took effect in October 2025.
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that → carry → October
Israel says it is targeting militants.
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it → say → militants
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ deadly October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
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Israel → launch → Israel
Direct attacks on hospitals have become rarer during the truce.
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attacks → become → truce
But Thursday’s strike underscored how Gaza’s health system is still struggling to recover.
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system → underscore → ?
Israel has attacked Gaza hospitals frequently in the war
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Israel → attack → war
The Israeli military besieged multiple hospitals around Gaza throughout the war, often surrounding them for weeks and battering them with strikes and gunfire while patients and staff were trapped inside and supplies ran out.
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supplies → besiege → strikes
Some sieges ended with troops storming hospitals, often leaving medical equipment destroyed, or with staff and patients forced to evacuate.
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staff → end → equipment
Troops detained hundreds of healthcare workers.
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Troops → detain → workers
Two major raids left Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, in ruins.
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raids → leave → ruins
Aside from the sieges, hospitals and other medical facilities have frequently come under Israeli fire or been hit by airstrikes that the military says target Hamas militants.
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military → come → militants
During some of the worst months, as few as 14 of Gaza’s 36 prewar hospitals were functioning, and shortages of medicine meant patients writhed in pain without painkillers and deadly infections ran rampant.
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infections → function → painkillers
The World Health Organization says it has documented more than 1,050 attacks on health facilities in Gaza, causing more than 1,000 deaths.
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it → say → deaths
The U.N. says more than 1,700 medical personnel were killed in the war, including in strikes away from medical facilities.
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personnel → say → facilities
At least six medical staffers from Gaza, including three prominent doctors, have died in Israeli prisons, according to rights groups that have documented abuses in custody.
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that → include → custody
Israeli forces have struck Nasser Hospital repeatedly.
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forces → strike → Hospital
In 2025, the military killed 22 people when it shelled a vantage point used by reporters on the hospital roof, then hit rescue workers and journalists rushing to help the wounded.
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it → kill → wounded
Among those killed were five journalists, including Mariam Dagga, who was working with The Associated Press.
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who → kill → Press
While attacks during the ceasefire have waned, some strikes in recent months have damaged medical facilities, according to the U.N.
Israel accuses Hamas of using the facilities for military purposes
Israel has sought to justify the assaults by accusing Hamas of using the hospitals as command-and-control centers, though it has provided limited evidence.
uncertain
it → wan → evidence
Palestinian and hospital officials have denied these claims.
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officials → deny → claims
Hamas security men have sometimes been seen in hospitals, controlling access to certain areas.
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men → see → areas
The international medical aid group Doctors Without Borders suspended most operations at Nasser Hospital in January because of the presence of masked armed men and situations in which patients were arrested or intimidated.
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patients → suspend → which
It resumed operations a few months later, citing “concrete improvements” after talks with Gaza authorities, including restrictions on entry of armed individuals.
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It → resume → individuals
In the case of Nasser Hospital, the Israeli military said Thursday that it was targeting Muhammad Abu Ismail, who it said headed Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade and had been using the facility as a headquarters for planning attacks.
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it → say → attacks
It did not explain why the hospital’s surgical unit was targeted.
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unit → explain → ?
The strike smashed through a patient recovery area and wrecked operating rooms and a rest area for doctors.
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strike → smash → doctors
The military did not say whether it had killed Abu Ismail.
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it → say → Ismail
He was not on the hospital’s list of people killed.
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He → kill → people
International law gives protections to hospitals
Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law and attacking them is a war crime.
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attacking → give → them
Medical facilities can lose that protected status if they are used for military purposes “to commit acts harmful to the enemy.”
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they → lose → enemy
But the Geneva Conventions, passed in 1949, say there must be a warning with a reasonable period of time before any attack, and that the attack must be proportional to the military threat and take care to avoid civilian casualties.
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attack → pass → casualties
The Israeli military said it had held “warning conversations” with Gaza health officials before Thursday’s strike regarding militant use of hospitals.
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it → say → hospitals
It said it made clear that “if the activity was not halted, it would act to remove the threats posed by it.”
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it → say → it
Medical organizations and rights groups also have criticized Israel’s restrictions on medical aid and equipment entering Gaza as a violation of international law.
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aid → criticize → law
The Israeli military says it allows aid to enter Gaza but bars some “dual use” items it asserts could be used for military purposes.
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it → say → purposes
Gaza’s healthcare system is struggling to recover
Israel’s attacks, along with restrictions on aid, have left Gaza’s healthcare system in ruins.
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attacks → struggle → ruins
Twenty of Gaza’s 36 pre-war hospitals are functioning, though none is fully operational.
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none → function → hospitals
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
