On September 23, 2025, the already fragile healthcare system of Gaza City suffered another devastating blow. The Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) announced that its main six-story health center in the central Samer area had been reduced to rubble by an Israeli airstrike, following an evacuation order. This center, according to PMRS, was a lifeline for thousands: it provided blood donation and testing services, trauma care, cancer medicine, and chronic disease treatment. Its destruction, medics say, is yet another chapter in a conflict that has repeatedly targeted—and crippled—Gaza’s medical infrastructure.
The Israeli military, which has been accused of bombing and raiding hospitals throughout the war, offered no immediate comment on this specific strike. The silence, however, did little to quell outrage among medical professionals and international observers. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, condemned the attack in stark terms, writing on X, “Attacks on health facilities must end. The senseless violence must stop. Ceasefire!” As reported by the Associated Press, the WHO has partnered with PMRS and other organizations to try to maintain some semblance of healthcare in Gaza, but such efforts have become increasingly difficult.
The destruction of the PMRS center is not an isolated incident. The charity reported that another of its centers was damaged and surrounded by Israeli troops, while a third was destroyed in a separate strike. These losses come amid a broader pattern: multiple hospitals in Gaza City have been forced to shut down as Israeli forces press their ground operations. On September 22, both the Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital and the Specialized Eye Hospital were shuttered due to nearby military activity, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
This escalation comes at a time when Gaza is already in the throes of famine. The world’s leading authority on hunger crises declared last month that Israel’s blockade and ongoing offensive had pushed Gaza City into famine conditions. The humanitarian situation is dire: more than 300,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks after Israeli orders to move south, but United Nations agencies and aid groups estimate that some 700,000 remain, many with little access to food, water, or medical care.
Israel has justified its strikes on medical facilities by accusing Hamas of using hospitals and clinics for military purposes. The Israeli military has argued that such use could strip these sites of their protection under international law. However, as noted in reports from the Associated Press, the military has often provided little or no evidence of a significant militant presence at the targeted facilities. This lack of transparency has fueled skepticism and condemnation from international observers and humanitarian organizations.
The international community’s patience appears to be wearing thin. On September 22, a coalition of 24 Western countries—including Canada, France, and Germany—issued a joint statement urging Israel to restore a medical corridor for Palestinians in Gaza to be treated in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The statement also called for Israel to lift restrictions on medical supplies entering Gaza, highlighting the mounting criticism the Israeli government faces, even from some of its closest allies.
Adding to the region’s isolation, Israel announced on September 23 the complete closure of the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan. The closure follows an attack last week that killed two Israelis. The Allenby Bridge (also known as the King Hussein Bridge) is the only cargo and passenger crossing available to Palestinians in the West Bank that does not lead to Israel. It is also a vital route for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. With its closure, the already restricted flow of goods, including desperately needed medical supplies, is expected to slow to a trickle.
These developments are unfolding against the backdrop of a major Israeli offensive launched earlier in September, aimed at occupying Gaza City. According to Israeli officials, the operation is intended to pressure Hamas into surrendering and returning the remaining 48 hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the current war. Israel believes that around 20 of the captives are still alive. The offensive has left Gaza City, already battered by previous raids and bombardments, almost unrecognizable.
The human toll continues to mount. The Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, reports that at least 65,382 Palestinians have been killed in the war. While the Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, the United Nations and many independent experts consider its estimates the most reliable available. On the Israeli side, the October 7 attack by Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in the abduction of 251 individuals. Most of those captives have since been released in ceasefires or other deals, but the trauma lingers on both sides of the conflict.
Violence is not confined to Gaza alone. On September 23, a 20-year-old Palestinian man, Saeed Murad Naasan, died from injuries sustained after being shot by Israeli settlers in the village of al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Naasan was shot after confronting settlers who were grazing their livestock on the outskirts of the village. The Israeli military stated that troops fired live rounds to disperse Palestinians hurling rocks at Israeli civilians during what it described as a "violent confrontation." The incident is under review, but it has further inflamed tensions in the West Bank.
The cumulative impact of these events is a healthcare system teetering on the brink of collapse. Hospitals that remain open are overwhelmed by casualties, shortages of medicine, and the constant threat of attack. Humanitarian corridors have been choked off, and international appeals for restraint and aid access have so far yielded little change on the ground.
For the people of Gaza City and the wider region, each new strike, each new closure, and each new act of violence is another reminder of the precariousness of everyday life. The destruction of the PMRS center is not just the loss of a building—it is the loss of hope for thousands who depended on its services. As calls for a ceasefire grow louder and the world’s attention remains fixed on the region, the question lingers: how much more can Gaza’s people endure?
In the shadow of war and famine, the fate of Gaza’s medical infrastructure stands as a stark symbol of the broader humanitarian crisis—a crisis that, for now, shows no sign of abating.