Gaza Strip, May 16, 2025—By Joe D., NBPrime
Not merely from destruction but from hopelessness, the lights inside Gaza’s only cancer hospital turned out this week.
At least 120 Palestinians are dead following two nights of unrelenting bombardment, and one of the territory’s last lifelines—the European Hospital in Khan Younis—has closed. Nearby attacks wrecked adjacent roads and infrastructure, rendering the institution inoperable. It had offered cancer treatment for patients all across the war-torn strip.
Most of the new deaths were from Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza already carrying the burden of mass displacement. Rescue personnel claim 54 people died there in one night. Seventy more perished in prior assaults scattered over northern and southern districts.
Many of them badly hurt or already past capacity. 82 bodies were delivered to local hospitals in only the last 24 hours.
In reaction to the most recent reports, Israel has not published an official remark.
The Gaza Health Ministry keeps sounding an alarm about a system on the verge of collapse. Many locations are unreachable for ambulances because of debris-blocked roads and continuous bombardment; hospitals are short on supplies.
A complete aid blockade still exists in the interim. Since March 2, when Israel stepped up its embargo in an effort to destabilize Hamas, no food, fuel, or humanitarian aid has entered Gaza. Nearly one million people are said to be food insecure by humanitarian organizations, with 500,000 in danger of starvation. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) characterizes the scenario as among the most extreme in recent world memory.
The Israeli government, meanwhile, claims there is no food crisis. Officials say Hamas is hoarding supplies intended for civilians and obstructing assistance for political gain.
This most recent escalation has developed as Donald Trump, president of the United States, travels the Middle East. He has not been to Israel or Gaza, despite his stops in Gulf nations. Though no public ideas have yet surfaced, his presence in the area has generated careful speculation that Washington would attempt to negotiate a truce or restore humanitarian corridors.
The conflict’s origins lie on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a lethal cross-border assault into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and seizing approximately 250 hostages. Israel launched a large-scale offensive meant to destroy Hamas’s military and political apparatus in response to that.
The Gaza Health Ministry reports that since then, the Palestinian death toll has exceeded 53,000. Since Israel restarted operations after a two-month ceasefire in March, around 3,000 civilians have died.
Israeli reports say Hamas still has 58 hostages. Recent intelligence indicates at least three could be in serious condition; only 23 are thought to be alive.
With no ceasefire, no access to treatment, and, more and more, no way out, the people of Gaza confront a bleak reality as the bombings go on and hospitals darken.
