Israel Is Burning Palestinians Alive, Again

by Aysha Qamar

Israeli occupation forces launched several air attacks on tents of displaced Palestinians inside a hospital complex in Gaza killing at least four people and wounding at least 70, many of them critically injured in the early hours of Monday.

The bombings resulted in a massive fire with gruesome videos and images circulating online depicting Palestinians being burned alive. The attack took place around 2 AM local time at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah city.

“The occupation army burned human beings alive in their tents. These were patients, with IVs still in their arms, trapped and helpless in tents in front of the hospital. This is a holocaust,” Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat wrote on X.

Videos showed rescuers scrambling to save people as they struggled to contain a major fire. Victims were patients at the hospital, some as young as infants and others as critical as those on IV.

Eyewitness Testimonies:

“What happened was that we woke up to smoke, flames, fire and burning pieces falling on the tents from every direction. The explosions terrified us in our tents and outside where we live behind Al-Aqsa Hospital,” Om Ahmad Radi, a survivor at the scene, told Al Jazeera.

A witness told The Washington Post the tents caught fire as several explosions occurred. Ahmed al-Ras, 41, a photojournalist for Al-Kofiya TV, a local network, was inside the tent for journalists at the time of the strike when the gas cylinders exploded.

“The fire was very fast and burned all the tents. I saw three people burning, dozens of injuries and hundreds of families running and screaming and searching for their children,” he said, according to The Post.

“I saw something burning inside the fire and thought it was a mattress but I then realised it was a woman,” Maha al-Sarsak, a displaced Palestinian from Gaza City sheltering at Al-Aqsa Hospital told Middle East Eye.

According to Gaza’s Media Office, this was the seventh Israeli attack on the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital.

“A year ago, Israel bombed a hospital, there was an international outcry so a bunch of media and political figures ran cover for them. now they’re just burning people alive in hospitals with zero pretext or effort to cover it up at all,” one person wrote on X.

As always, Israeli armed forces claimed the attack was conducted to prevent Hamas from carrying out attacks against Israel, claiming the complex was used as a “command and control center.” As per other incidents, this claim was made without evidence.

There are currently no hospitals or working ambulances in the north, leaving the injured and sick without any assistance from emergency services or doctors.

Massacre, After Massacre..

A few hours before this massacre, Israel bombed the Al-Mufti school which was also sheltering displaced Palestinians. The school bombing killed at least 19 people, including a baby.

The death toll is expected to rise further as survivors and bodies are counted.

“The fire trucks couldn’t get here. There were so many burned and charred bodies all over the place. The amount of fire and explosions was enormous. We witnessed one of the most horrible and brutal nights.”

Volunteer surgeon Mohammad Tahir said victims had burns on 60 to 80 percent of their bodies – many of whom won’t survive.

“Patients with significant high percentage burns – unfortunately, their fate is sealed. They won’t even make it to the ICU. They will die,” Tahir told Al Jazeera.

“It’s a horror show here. Honestly, sometimes I feel like this is not real life, that this can go on, and this degree of suffering is allowed to happen in this world.”

As of this report, more than 42,200 people have been killed since Oct. 7— mostly women and children— and about 98,400 injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry. At least 1.9 million people across the Gaza Strip— 90 percent of the population — are internally displaced.

Reposted from Muslim