The Tactics Institute joins in serious condemnation of the latest incursion by the Israeli military on the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza that has driven the hospital out of commission. The attack, executed through drone strikes during its continued ground incursion, is another deliberate hit on Gaza’s devastated health system, deepening the region further into an all-time humanitarian disaster.
On Sunday, the Israeli military opened a new offensive in the north and south of Gaza, killing over 140 Palestinians in one morning. In the midst of this outburst of violence, the Indonesian Hospital, one of the remaining operational medical centres in the north of Gaza, was targeted outright, including bombardment of its intensive care ward. No fewer than 30 patients and 15 doctors were holed up inside during the bombing.
Health authorities confirmed that the besieged hospital had to suspend operations, leaving the whole North Gaza Governorate with no functional public hospital. “There is direct targeting on the hospital,” declared its director, Dr Marwan al-Sultan, as a warning that no outside assistance could reach those trapped inside. This follows after Israeli air strikes earlier disabled other major northern hospitals, such as Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoon, basically disabling the area to take care of the sick and injured.
A pattern of systematic targeting
Israel’s assault on Gaza’s health infrastructure has become ever more systematic, in blatant disregard of international humanitarian law. Hospitals such as al-Shifa, al-Ahli, al-Awda, and many others have been bombed, set ablaze, or under siege since the war erupted more than 18 months ago. The bombardments of the Indonesian Hospital are merely the most recent of a multitude of deliberate attacks which have proactively eroded Gaza’s health services.
Human rights organisations and United Nations-supported experts have again accused Israel of weaponising access to medical treatment, and such actions can be regarded as war crimes under the 1949 Geneva Convention.
At the weekend, Israeli missiles also hit two hospitals in Khan Younis, killing 18 individuals. The European Gaza Hospital—previously the sole institution offering cancer treatment in Gaza—has now also been put out of commission.
War crimes and impunity
The Tactics Institute immediately reminds the world that intentional attacks on hospitals, doctors, and patients constitute a war crime according to international law. The inaction—silence or complicity—of the world’s powers in the face of such horror risks creating a precedent for impunity.
Among the victims of the recent attacks were humanitarian staff and journalists, including a volunteer pharmacist with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a midwife with the Al Awda Health and Community Association, and a journalist working for Al Araby TV—each of whom was killed together with their families.
Since October 7, 2023, at least 53,000 have been killed in Gaza. Almost 3,000 of them have been killed since Israel defied a ceasefire on March 18, 2025. The health system in Gaza, already drained and deprived of aid, now hangs by a thread in danger of collapse beyond repair.
The Tactics Institute urges the United Nations, European Union, and global human rights organizations to call for a ceasefire and unconditional humanitarian access to Gaza immediately. Launch independent inquiries into Israel’s assault on healthcare facilities.
