Urgent Appeal Issued by Al Awda Health and Community Association

Date: May 22, 2025

Amid the continued targeting of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip and the intensification of attacks on hospitals, the Al-Awda Health and Community Association has issued an urgent appeal to stop these assaults. Below is the full text of the appeal:

Since the outbreak of fire at Al-Awda Hospital—Tal al-Zaatar—north of the Gaza Strip, caused by the targeting of its facilities by the occupation forces at exactly 2:00 AM this Thursday, May 22, 2025, the hospital staff have been struggling to contain the flames that erupted in the hospital’s warehouses and storage units, preventing them from spreading to other hospital facilities and endangering the lives of patients and staff present in the hospital. Unfortunately, the fire continues to expand within the hospital’s premises, and the staff are unable to control it due to the lack of necessary resources, while occupation tanks have once again surrounded the hospital.

Since this morning, Al Awda Health and Community Association has been in contact with all relevant parties, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the health sector, the International Red Cross, the Humanitarian Fund for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Palestinian NGO Network, and all other concerned parties.

Al Awda Health and Community Association recognizes the magnitude of the challenges facing all parties involved, but it calls for intensified efforts to achieve the following:

1. Pressure the occupation forces to enable Al Awda Association’s staff to continue their efforts to extinguish the fire without endangering their lives by the occupation forces surrounding the hospital.
2. Pressure the occupation forces to allow civil defense teams access and facilitate their movement to Al-Awda Hospital—Tal al-Zaatar—to help contain the fire and prevent its spread.
3. Urge the International Red Cross to immediately head to Al-Awda Hospital—Tal al-Zaatar—to provide protection for the patients and staff inside the hospital and support the hospital’s teams in their efforts to extinguish the fire.