The health ministry in Gaza has announced that two hospital in Gaza City has been forced to suspend operations as Israel’s ground offensive intensify. Al-Rantissi Children’s Hospital suffer heavy damage from recent bombardments, making its facility unusable. Close by, the Eye Hospital also halted service due to nearby attack that make safe passage almost impossible. According to ministry, there is virtually no secure route left for patient or wounded to reach hospital in that governorate.

The ministry decried what it describe as a deliberate strategy to undermine the healthcare system. Its statement claim that the escalation of Israeli military operation has systematically target medical infrastructure. There was no immediate respond from the Israeli military to this allegation.

As Israeli forces advance deeper into Gaza, residents are increasingly cut off from essential medical cares. Hospitals already under pressure of shortages in medicine, staff and electricity, now being damaged or inaccessible. The lost of these two hospital further strain an already overwhelm health system dealing with mass casualty and suffering of civilians.

The suspension of service in these institution is very urgent because Al-Rantissi was serving many children in need, and Eye Hospital was one of few specialized facility in the region. Without them, trauma cares, surgeries and other critical treatment being delay or skipped. Local health officials warn about growing mortality due to lack of proper care.

In essence, the Gaza crisis escalating beyond battlefield: while bombs dropping, it is civilians who pay steepest price, especially when healthcare infrastructure become collateral casualty. The shutdown show both the physical destruction of facility and human cost of interrupted care for vulnerable.