In a heinous attack on critical medical infrastructure on the afternoon of Monday, 2 December 2024, the Russian military and/or Syrian regime forces allegedly hit a number of hospitals, including the budiling of Idlib Health Directorate and the University Hospital complex, in the city of Idlib, Syria, causing the death of up to four civilians and the injury of dozens of civilians.

One of the casualties was identified as a worker in the Idlib Health Directorate, Abdul Rahman Muhammed Aid Hamrin, while two victims reportedly died in the intensive care after the failure of their respirators, caused by the attack. A source included a woman and a child among the victims, while another identified the two victims in the intensive care unit as children. According to Al Jazeera, dozens were injured.

The deadly airstrikes hit the National Hospital, Ibn Sina Hospital for children, Sima Hospital, the Kidney Dialysis Centre, the Maternity and Obstetrics Hospital, the Cardiac Surgery Centre, and the Forensic Medicine Department, causing extensive damage to medical infrastructure, including both hospitals and ambulances. All the affected hospitals reported out of service after the attack, according to the statement by the Syrian health minister, Dr. Mazen Dukhan.

The Syrian Civil Defence reported the death of three civilians, two of which after the failure of respirators, while Syrian Network for Human Rights identified four victims, including one woman and a child. In a Facebook post, the SCD called the death from the respirators’ failure a “death without wounds”, attaching a picture of one of the victims on a hospital bed, covered by a blanket with a blurred face.

The attack took the life of a worker in the Idlib Health Directorate, Abdul Rahman Muhammed Aid Hamrin, a young man dressed in a dark shirt, in an image shared by his cousin Bassam Hamreen, who mourned his death. “A beautiful martyr, the martyrdom of my cousin Abdulrahman Hamrin in the Russian pigs’ bombing of the university hospital in Idlib Governorate,” wrote Bassam, grieving over the loss of his cousin.

The Idlib Health Directorate also wrote a tribute to its employee Abdul Rahman, noting that he had been killed as a result of the attack on the building of the Directorate and the neighbouring health facilities.

Information on the incident was shared by different local news sources as well as several private accounts. A video of the moment a missile struck the hospital, taken from the inside of the building, was shared on Facebook by user Mousaalmarouf99. It showed the sudden explosion blasting a window, destroying the furniture and the medical equipment, which was followed by loud exclamations of “Allahu Akbar” by eyewitnesses. The author of the post reported the death of two children in intensive care due to the lack of oxygen as a result of the damage to the hospital.

A video shared by Idlib TV on Facebook showed the first moments after the explosion, where the hospital’s corridors were covered in dust, while a video shared by Alraqaoya showed the huge clouds of dark smoke and burning cars. A video filmed by a Syrian Civil Defense volunteer also showed the immediate aftermath of the strike, and a volunteer was running inside the hospital and asking if everyone was alright. Another person told him everyone was okay, as no one was here. He repeatedly said that Al-Jamii Hospital was targeted on December 2nd of December 2024, in Idlib. Late,r he also filmed the hospital’s yard where several cars were ablaze.

Several videos and images of the aftermath showed noticeable damage to the University hospital’s furniture with fallen ceiling panels, destroyed windows and damaged medical equipment, and a room with a collapsed concrete ceiling. In a Facebook post by Mohammad Ghaleb Tanar, an incubator with what appears to be a premature baby is also visible in a damaged room. A post by Samira Awad instead showed rescuers assisting a child in what appears to be an emergency tent. One of the images shared by the Syrian Civil Defense showed a hospital bed covered with a blood-stained sheet.

The video filmed by Al Jazeera inside the Ibn Sina hospital for children showed the severe damage to the intensive care rooms with broken windows and a reported power outage. The Al Jazeera correspondent said that this hospital is likely to be out of service for a long time. He added that the National Hospital located nearby was also severely damaged, with broken windows and doors. The reporter also emphasized that the halt in the operation of two major hospitals will increase the suffering of the civilians of Idlib who were wounded by Russian and Syrian regime airstrikes.

More extensive damage is visible on the outside of the building; here, a large crater can be seen in the street in front of the structure, also several vehicles, including both ambulances and civilian cars, in the hospital’s parking lot were destroyed. Central Ambulance System reported the destruction of ambulance No. 27 that was transporting an emergency patient to Idlib University Hospital.

Where sources identified the belligerent, they attributed the strike to the Russian military and/or Syrian regime forces.