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Non-functional
Al-Quds Hospital
Facility Type
General Hospital
Ownership type
NGO (
Palestinian Red Crescent Society
)
Governorates / District
Gaza
Address
Tel al-Hawa – League of Arab States Street
Founding Year
2001
Facility director
Bashar Murad
Beds Capacity
71
Number of workers
382
List of medical specialties and services
Obstetrics and gynaecology
High-risk pregnancy
Child health
Family planning
General medicine
Rehabilitation
Physiotherapy
Emergency medicine
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes services
Ear, nose and throat
Respiratory medicine
Pharmacy
Nutrition
Internal medicine
Orthopedics
Respiratory medicine
General surgery
Oncology
Orthopedic surgery
Cardiology
Urological surgery
Outpatient clinics
Pediatric cardiology
Pediatric surgery
Newborn services
Neurosurgery
Non-communicable diseases
Pediatric intensive care
General intensive care
Equipment and facilities
Positron emission tomography (PET)
Mammography
Ultrasound scan
Radiology
Computed tomography scan
Magnetic resonance imaging
Laboratory services
Pharmacy
Description (About the Facility)

Al-Quds Hospital, also known as the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Hospital, was established in 2001 in the Tel al-Hawa area of Gaza City[1]. It has a capacity of 120 beds, which can be increased to 200 beds in case of extreme emergencies, and spans six floors each of an area of 850 square meters[2]. Al-Quds Hospital is one of the four medical centers in the Gaza Strip that provide open-heart surgery and cardiac catheterization services, and one of the six hospitals that provide dialysis services[3].

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was officially established as a national society on December 27, 1968, and received its social status in a decision by the Palestinian National Council during its sixth session held in Cairo on September 1, 1969, where it became one of the institutions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Its Gaza branch was established in January 2000[1].

Funding Details
2009:
On April 20, 2009: The PRCS and the Qatar Red Crescent Society signed an agreement providing $750,000 to rebuilding Al-Quds Hospital after it was damaged by the occupation during the 2008-2009 aggression[4].
On July 28, 2009: The PRCS signed two cooperation agreements with the Malaysian Red Crescent and the Saudi Red Crescent to address the health and humanitarian impact of the latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip[5].
Also in 2009: Palestinian Relief and the Central Bank of Morocco raised $3.87 million to rebuild a wing of the hospital, which was completely destroyed during the Israeli aggression[6].

In 2010: The PRCS's emergency services department at the hospital was opened with funding from France[7].

In 2011: New departments were opened, including for magnetic resonance imaging, dialysis, dental clinics, laboratories, and a kidney stone dissolution unit. The hospital's new kidney stone unit aimed to transform the hospital into an advanced medical center to alleviate and avoid the need to send patients abroad for treatment. The PRCS received a $2.5 million grant for the reconstruction of the hospital as part of the support provided by the Algerian people[8][9].

In 2012: The PRCS laid the foundation stone for the new Advanced Medical Center at the hospital on the site of the old building that was destroyed during the 2008-2009 agression on Gaza. The total cost was $5 million, funded by the Kingdom of Morocco. Mercy Relief delivered and distributed $75,000 worth of medicine, water filtration systems, laboratory equipment, food rations, and heating equipment[10][11].

In July 2014: In collaboration with Mercy relief, the ENT department was equipped at a cost of $30,000. Mercy relief also donated a fully equipped ambulance to the PRCS[12]
Also in 2014: The Non-Aligned Movement stated that, through the India, Brazil and South Africa Fund, and in cooperation with other international and local organizations, it was supporting Al-Quds Rehabilitation Fund. Morocco donated $5 million through the PRCS to purchase medical supplies and relief items[13].

In 2016: The Turkish Red Crescent delegation in Gaza carried out activities, in cooperation with the PRCS, in the Al-Quds Hospital project, aimed at building an operating room and an intensive care unit with a capacity of 13 beds[14].

In 2020: The Qatar Red Crescent Society renovated and furnished the operating and sterilization department at the hospital. The project ran from 2008 to 2020, at a total cost of $511,300. The project included renovating the operating and sterilization department, rebuilding the power system, installing an elevator, and providing medical equipment for the operating unit[15].

In August 2023: The Qatar Red Crescent Society provided the hospital with a solar energy system. The project amounted to $440,000 and 498 solar panels were installed to provide the hospital with 323 kilowatts of electricity[16].
Effect of siege (2007 - 2023)

On November 17, 2002: Occupation forces damaged Al-Quds Hospital and two ambulances during the bombing of the Palestinian Preventive Security headquarters in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood south of Gaza City[17].

During the 2008-2009 Aggression: Occupation forces evacuated patients from one of the buildings of the hospital and shelled it with tanks, which also destroyed about 10 ambulances and three ambulances were used for military purposes by the occupation[18].

On January 15, 2009: Occupation forces targeted Al-Nour Medical City, including directly targeting Al-Quds Hospital. Everyone in the hospital were evacuated to the ground floor after clouds of smoke, believed to be phosphorus, spread inside the hospital's departments. The shelling also led to the destruction of warehouses and the destruction of relief and medical supplies[19]. It was later confirmed that Israel used white phosphorus shells in targeting the hospital, which burned some layers of the hospital, and destroyed the medical warehouses, including all the medicines and medical supplies inside, the administration building, and the cultural center[20]. 60 patients and 500 displaced people sheltering in the hospital fled the hospital on foot. Occupation forces withdrew from the hospital the next day, arresting many residents in the area[21][22][23][24][25].

In 2010: According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the Israeli blockade of Gaza prevented the reconstruction of the hospital, only allowing in 17% of the total amount of materials needed[26].

In 2012: Occupation forces bombed the hospital, damaging the Red Crescent ambulance station, the clinic units, and most of the hospital’s windows[27][28].

On July 30, 2014: The occupation forces targeted the hospital, causing partial collapse of several floors, and fires in parts of the hospital[29][30].

In August 2014: An official at the hospital told Human Rights Watch that due to power outages, the hospital used a large generator for six to eight hours, and then relies on three smaller generators, because the large generator cannot run continuously. The hospital also faced the challenge of a shortage of spare parts in the event of a generator failure[31].

narrative during this war

On October 10, 2023: The PRCS launched its initial emergency appeal for $11,672,202 in response to the worsening situation in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip[32]

October 12, 2023: Occupation forces bombed the Tel al-Hawa area, including the back street of Al-Quds Hospital, killing 78 Palestinians[33].

October 16 ,2023: Occupation forces bombed the vicinity of the hospital, destroying several buildings near the hospital. The military also tell people in the area to evacuate[34].

On October 18, 2023: Occupation forces issued a threat that it will bomb the hospital as fighter jets bombed the vicinity of the hospital, causing damage to windows and ceilings[35].

 On October 20, 2023: Occupation forces ordered the PRCS to evacuate the 400 patients, the medical staff, and the 12,000 displaced people sheltering inside of the hospital[36][37].

On October 24, 25, and 26, 2023: Al-Quds Hospital continued to provide its services to the wounded, injured and displaced, despite continuous Israeli threats to evacuate the hospital and intensive targeting of the surrounding area by warplanes[38].

On October 28 and 29, 2023: UNOCHA reported that Israeli forces shelled the perimeter of the hospital, causing damage. This followed renewed threats by the occupation forces that it will bomb the hospital and to evacuate the facilities that housed 14,000 internally displaced people[39].

On October 30, 2023: Occupation forces renewed their direct threat against the hospital, calling on it and the PRCS headquarters to be evacuated, demanding the evacuation of more than 14,000 internally displaced people. The hospital had defied the evacuation orders and continued to provide services to the wounded, injured and displaced, despite the threat of being bombed. The area around the hospital and its PRCS headquarters continued to be targeted by warplanes and heavy shelling, and the warehouses in its vicinity were bombed[40][41].

On November 2, 2023: Occupation forces stationed on the southern side of the hospital targeted it with indiscriminate gunfire, with bullets penetrating the walls of the sixth floor and damaging the central air-conditioning units. Two displaced persons, a young man and a child, were injured in the chest and abdomen in the indiscriminate Israeli shooting. Occupation forces also bombed residential towers in the vicinity of the hospital, causing significant damage to hospital buildings. Occupation forces maintained their threat to bomb the hospital and demand to evacuate the hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters. The hospital continued to operate despite the nearby bombardment[42].

On November 3, 2023: Occupation forces bombed the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters and Al-Quds Hospital in the early morning hours, shattering the glass inside the hospital on the heads of the displaced people inside the headquarters. The hospital's emergency teams treated 21 cases of injuries that occurred inside the hospital, while displaced people suffered from panic attacks[43].

On November 4, 2023: Occupation forces bombed the main entrances to the hospital and continued targeting the area around the hospital, increasing the enormous challenges faced by the teams working there, and threatening the lives of displaced people[44][45].

On November 5, 2023: Occupation forces continued bombing the area around the hospital, injuring 9 people inside the hospital, destroying the intensive care units on the third and fourth floors of the hospital, damaging five ambulances and putting them out of service, and destroying a residential building in the northwestern area of the hospital[46].

On November 7, 2023: Occupation forces continued bombing the vicinity of the hospital, causing damage two vehicles and a driver of a PRCS convoy delivering medical supplies to the hospital. Israeli bombing of the hospital the past week had injured at least 60 people, including patients, staff, and displaced people sheltering at the hospital. Intense shelling all around the hospital blocked most of the roads leading to the hospital, posing additional challenges to medical teams[47][48].

On November 8, 2023: Occupation forces bombed a PRCS ambulance, injuring a paramedic and the driver. The director of Al-Quds Hospital told Human Rights Watch that the Israeli military did not provide prior warning. Due to a lack of fuel to run generators, the hospital is forced to cease operating key services[49][50].

On November 9, 2023: The hospital administration decided to curtail most of the hospital's services to conserve fuel and the emergency operation room was out of service for the third day in a row after communication services and VHF interference were interrupted[51].

On November 10, 2023: Occupation forces bombed the hospital[52][53].

On November 11, 2023: Electricity to the hospital was cut off due to generators malfunctioning as a result of Israeli shelling and targeting. Occupation forces tightened the siege of the hospital by advancing towards the hospital's entrance, intensify the airstrikes around the hospital and PRCS headquarters, and fired live ammunition at the intensive care unit and displaced people sheltering in the hospital, causing several injuries. Occupation forces also opened fire at the clinics and at everyone moving outside of the hospital, killing a displaced person. PRCS director general Marwan Jilani says that occupation forces wounded 30 people with direct fire. Meanwhile, infants at the hospital suffered from dehydration due to running out of milk and most of the services provided at the hospital continue to be reduced due to the lack of fuel[54][55][56][57].

On November 12, 2023: As the hospital entered its seventh day of Israeli siege and fifth day without communications, the PRCS announced that the hospital was completely out of service due to lack of available fuel and power outages. Staff continued to provide the best service they could to the injured as the hospital lacked power, food, medical equipment, food, and water. Staff were forced to use traditional medical methods due to the lack of supplies. Displaced people were forced to evacuate to the south on a specific route drawn by the Israeli military. A PRCS and International Committee of the Red Cross convoy headed to the hospital to help evacuate wounded people was stopped by Israeli forces and forced to return south. The hospital was surrounded on all sides by occupation vehicles and tanks. The hospital’s appeals for urgent international assistance were unanswered[58][59][60][61].

On November 13, 2023: Occupation forces intensified the siege and continued to advance towards the hospital’s entrance, firing live ammunition. Occupation forces also forced a PRSC convoy attempting to evacuate patients from the hospital to return, despite approving the operation and searching the vehicles under the pretext of a security incident. Thousands of displaced people evacuated south by foot[62][63][64].

- The testimony of one of the wounded evacuees: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=878322853509391

On November 14, 2023: The siege of the hospital continued as wounded and medical staff were evacuated, including around 200 to Khan Yunis by the PRCS. 300 people remained in the hospital under persistent shelling and siege[65][66][67].

On November 19, 2023: The PRCS announced the closure of all hospitals in Gaza, primarily Al-Quds and Al-Shifa hospitals, due to the siege, forcing medical staff to flee and preventing them from providing services[68].

On November 27, 2023: Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal stated that hundreds of bodies remained in the vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital[69].

February 14-16, 2024: Occupation forces bombed Al-Quds Hospital, causing damage as it remained out of service. The PRCS established a field hospital in the hospital, but it remained out of service due to the occupation forces preventing the entry of medical materials needed to operate it[70].

On June 20, 2024: The PRCS's administrative team, accompanied by a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), visited Al-Quds Hospital to consider restarting some health services in the Gaza and North Gaza municipalities[71][72].

July 12, 2024: Occupation forces stationed in the vicinity of the hospital fired shots in the direction of houses near the hospital[73].

 

Testimonies (secondary data):

November 2, 2023: Doctors Without Borders orthopedic surgeon from Al-Quds Hospital:

"We have no choice but to stay inside Al-Quds Hospital. Explosions happen frequently around us, which makes it difficult to work. The hospital has been threatened to evacuate several times, but we cannot comply with the threats as there are no directives on where to go or how to transport patients. In addition, we have thousands of displaced civilians in the hospital. How can we convince them to leave? Where will they go?"[74].

November 11, 2023:

Dr. Marwan Jilani, Director General of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, confirmed that hospitals are being directly and deliberately targeted by the occupation forces. He also reported that 14,000 displaced civilians are staying in the hospital, in addition to 400 sick and wounded patients, and the lives of all patients in intensive care and children in incubators are in danger because the main generator was not turned on two days ago due to lack of fuel. "As we speak, displaced people in the hospital are being targeted with bullets," he said.

He added that he was concerned about the direct threat to the lives of the wounded and sick, as well as tens of thousands of civilians and children: "They are looking at you, begging you to intervene to stop another possible massacre." He continued: "Diseases are spreading and wounds are infested with worms. A child was treated for an eye infection, and the doctor found worms in his eyes."

Dr. Jilani also described the losses suffered by emergency medical teams, including a doctor at Al-Quds Hospital who lost 36 members of his family: "Describing the situation at Al-Quds Hospital is not possible, and cannot describe the bitterness of the horrors and psychological wounds of sleeping every night under terrifying shelling and not knowing if they will live the next morning or not."[75].

The main targeting and assaults During the genocide

Occupation forces target vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital

Occupation forces bombed the vicinity of the hospital, destroying several buildings near the hospital. The military also tell people in the area to evacuate.

Until the end of November, Israeli threats to evacuate the hospital continued along with intensive airstrikes targeting the surrounding area.

Damage to the hospital facilities includes:

- Destruction of several buildings in the streets adjacent to the hospital.
- Shattering of the hospital's glass and collapse of the false ceiling onto the heads of displaced individuals inside.
- Bombing of Palestinian Red Crescent warehouses adjacent to the hospital.

Occupation forces target Al-Quds Hospital with direct random gunfire

Occupation forces stationed on the southern side of the hospital targeted it with indiscriminate gunfire, with bullets penetrating the walls of the sixth floor and damaging the central air-conditioning units. Two displaced persons, a young man and a child, were injured in the chest and abdomen in the indiscriminate Israeli shooting.

Occupation forces maintained their threat to bomb the hospital and demand to evacuate the hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters. The hospital continued to operate despite the nearby bombardment.

And on November 3, 2023 Occupation forces bombed the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters and Al-Quds Hospital in the early morning hours, shattering the glass inside the hospital on the heads of the displaced people inside the headquarters. 

Occupation forces target vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital with warplanes

Occupation forces continued bombing the area around the hospital, injuring 9 people inside the hospital, destroying the intensive care units on the third and fourth floors of the hospital, damaging five ambulances and putting them out of service, and destroying a residential building in the northwestern area of the hospital.

Targeting of Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance

Occupation forces bombed a PRCS ambulance, injuring a paramedic and the driver. The director of Al-Quds Hospital told Human Rights Watch that the Israeli military did not provide prior warning. 

Tightening of siege on Al-Quds Hospital

Occupation forces bombed the hospital.

On November 11,2024,occupation forces tightened the siege of the hospital by advancing towards the hospital's entrance, intensify the airstrikes around the hospital and PRCS headquarters, and fired live ammunition at the intensive care unit and displaced people sheltering in the hospital, causing several injuries. Occupation forces also opened fire at the clinics and at everyone moving outside of the hospital, killing a displaced person.

Al-Quds Hospital goes out of service

As the hospital entered its seventh day of Israeli siege and fifth day without communications, the PRCS announced that the hospital was completely out of service due to lack of available fuel and power outages. Staff continued to provide the best service they could to the injured as the hospital lacked power, food, medical equipment, food, and water. Staff were forced to use traditional medical methods due to the lack of supplies. Displaced people were forced to evacuate to the south on a specific route drawn by the Israeli military. A PRCS and International Committee of the Red Cross convoy headed to the hospital to help evacuate wounded people was stopped by Israeli forces and forced to return south. The hospital was surrounded on all sides by occupation vehicles and tanks. The hospital's appeals for urgent international assistance were unanswered.

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