Al-Nasr Children's Hospital

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Al-Nasr Children's Hospital
Geography
LocationGaza City, Gaza Strip, Gaza, Palestine
Organisation
Care systemPublic
FundingGovernment hospital
TypeChildren's hospital / Pediatric
Services
Emergency departmentYes
Beds145
History
Opened1961

Al-Nasr Children's Hospital (Arabic: مستشفى النصر للأطفال) is a government children's hospital located in western Gaza City, Gaza Strip. It is part of the Al-Nasr Medical Complex, and one of the few major pediatric specialty hospitals in northern Gaza.

History and capacity

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The hospital was founded in 1961. As of 2021, it had approximately 145 beds and a staff complement of around 270-300 employees, including medical doctors, nurses, and support staff.[1]

The hospital provides a wide range of pediatric services, including neonatal and newborn care, intensive care, outpatient clinics, and specialties such as cardiology, respiratory medicine, emergency pediatrics, and both communicable and non-communicable disease treatment.[1]

Role in Gaza's Healthcare System

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Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital is among the central pediatric institutions for northern Gaza, serving thousands of children yearly. It often handles critical cases including neonatal emergencies, complications from respiratory illnesses, and chronic conditions. Its role has become especially crucial amid damage and closures of other hospitals due to the conflict.[2]

2023 Israeli bombardement and siege

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Main article: 2023–2024 Gaza Strip preterm births

On 10 November 2023, Doctors Without Borders reported that forcefully evacuated medical workers at Al-Nasr Children's Hospital had to leave babies in incubators after the IDF bombed the paediatric hospital. The Israeli soldiers forbade the families from going near the newborns, no one could reach the hospital and ambulances on the road were also targeted.[3][4]

On 29 November, during a temporary ceasefire after the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the area, Al-Mashhad channel correspondent Mohamed Hamed Balousha managed to enter Al-Nasr Hospital for Children. His video footage showed the aftermath of the hospital's evacuation, with the horrifying scenes of decomposing remains of five premature babies still in their incubators in the intensive care unit, which the IDF prevented from being removed and buried.[5] (Balousha was shot and injured by an IDF sniper in 2023[6] and in 2024 killed by a deliberate drone attack.[7] (See: Killing of journalists in the Gaza war)

The Switzerland-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor was able to 'confirm that it documented the discovery of five infants dead and in a state of decomposition' in a neonatal ward of the Al-Nasr Hospital and called for an international investigation into the responsibility of the Israeli army for leaving 5 infants to die. Euro-Med, which was headed up by former UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Richard A. Falk, said that the babies were left to die three weeks earlier after the nursing staff were forcefully made to leave the hospital by the IDF, which attacked the hospital and surrounded it with its tanks. In a testimony the director of Al-Nasr Children's Hospital, Dr. Mustafa Al-Kahlout, stated that he called upon international organizations, including the Red Cross, for help, to save the lives of the five critically ill children, but received no response. Euro-Med confirmed he received no reply. Dr. Mustafa Al-Kahlout mentioned that he informed an Israeli army officer, who had warned them of final evacuation, about the condition of the five children in incubators, confirming that the officer told him that the army was aware of the situation and would take action.[8]

The IDF denied any involvement.[9][10] In a recording of a phone call between Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived.[11]

The Red Cross stated that it had received "several requests" for evacuations from hospitals in northern Gaza, but due to security concerns, it was "not involved in any operations or evacuations, nor did teams commit to doing so." The organization also described the footage of deceased children as an "unspeakable tragedy."[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Al-Nasr Children's Hospital | Documenting the Targeting and Destruction of the Health Sector in the Gaza Strip". gazahcsector.palestine-studies.org. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  2. ^ "Lives of one million children 'hanging by a thread,' as child health services almost collapse across the Gaza Strip". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
  3. ^ Parker, Claire. "North Gaza hospitals have turned into 'a graveyard,' Doctors Without Borders says". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  4. ^ Kilbride, Erin; Van Esveld, Bill (December 2023). "Birth and Death Intertwined in Gaza Strip". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  5. ^ * "Alarming footage shows Israel left premature babies to die alone in Gaza hospital it forcefully evacuated". The New Arab. 29 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. ^ Harb, Hajar. "Journalist who broke story on decomposing babies in Gaza is shot, injured". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Mohammed Balousha". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  8. ^ * "We call for an international investigation into the responsibility of the Israeli army for leaving 5 infants to die in Gaza". Euro-Med Monitor (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  9. ^ MacDonald, Alex. "Israel-Palestine war: Five dead premature babies discovered in Gaza hospital". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Israel Blasts 'Perverse Exploitation of Innocent Lives' After Story About Babies Found Dead in Gaza Hospital Circulates". The Algemeiner. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. ^ Berger, Miriam; Hill, Evan; Balousha, Hazem. "A Gaza hospital evacuated, four fragile lives and a grim discovery". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  12. ^ Goodwin, Allegra (8 December 2023). "Infants found dead and decomposing in evacuated hospital ICU in Gaza. Here's what we know". CNN. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.