Footage circulating online this week showed Israeli soldiers lighting Hanukkah candles on the shattered rooftop of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, a scene that has drawn sharp condemnation and disbelief. The building, once a lifeline for thousands, now stands in ruins, its destruction emblematic of a health system pushed to collapse amid the ongoing genocidal war.

The Indonesian Hospital had been among the largest medical facilities serving northern Gaza. It ceased operating after sustained bombardment and ground incursions, despite housing patients, the injured and displaced civilians. Its destruction came at a moment when medical services across the territory were already buckling, with shortages of staff, electricity and basic supplies leaving countless people without care.

Hanukkah, a festival marking a historical victory and traditionally associated with light and renewal, was in this case performed against a backdrop of devastation. For many observers, the symbolism was impossible to ignore. Lighting religious candles on the remains of a hospital was seen not as a private act of faith, but as a public display layered with political meaning, made more jarring by the choice of location.

Reactions online described the scene as deeply unsettling, arguing that it normalised the erasure of places meant to preserve life. Critics pointed out that hospitals hold protected status under international humanitarian law and must not be attacked or repurposed under any circumstances. The image of ritual performed atop medical ruins was therefore read as a stark illustration of how civilian infrastructure, particularly healthcare, has been systematically stripped away.

Commentators also warned that such moments fuel anger and despair, reinforcing a sense that suffering is being openly displayed rather than concealed. With dozens of hospitals and clinics across Gaza forced out of service, patients requiring surgery, dialysis or emergency treatment have been left with nowhere to turn. Many concluded that the lack of meaningful international response has only emboldened further violations, underscoring an urgent moral and legal reckoning.