GAZA CITY – In the aftermath of another night of relentless Israeli airstrikes, barefoot children were seen picking through the rubble of the Sheikh Radwan Clinic, once a vital community health centre in northern Gaza.
The building, reduced to shattered concrete and twisted steel, was struck during overnight bombardment, according to local residents. At first light, children – some no older than six or seven – stepped cautiously across the debris, searching for anything salvageable. Torn pages from medical records fluttered in the wind, alongside broken furniture and remnants of medical supplies.
A man standing amid the destruction, his face ash-covered and voice trembling, told reporters: “We’ve been sent to hell.”
He pointed toward a crumpled pharmacy shelf now buried under rubble. “This was where children came to be vaccinated, where mothers got care. Now it’s dust.”
The Sheikh Radwan Clinic had served thousands in its densely populated neighbourhood — offering maternity care, vaccinations, and basic emergency services. Health workers say it had been operating on a skeleton staff due to fuel and supply shortages before the strike.
The attack marks another blow to Gaza’s already crippled health system. With most hospitals barely functioning, and hundreds of thousands displaced, aid agencies warn that the destruction of primary care clinics pushes ordinary civilians further into desperation.
The children continued their silent search as the call to prayer rang out from a nearby damaged mosque — a haunting sound in a city battered daily by war.
The Israeli military has not commented directly on the strike at Sheikh Radwan but maintains it is targeting what it calls “Hamas infrastructure.” Residents insist the clinic was never used for any military purpose.
International aid groups and UN officials have repeatedly called for the protection of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, particularly health facilities, under international humanitarian law.
As the dust settles, survivors in Gaza are once again left to grieve — and to rebuild, piece by piece, from what remains.
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