By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli forces stormed into Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza overnight on Friday and expelled some staff and displaced people before withdrawing, and bodies of people killed by airstrikes littered the streets outside, its director said.
The attack had begun with a series of airstrikes on the western and northern sides of Kamal Adwan accompanied by intensive shooting, hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya said, speaking via an online chatroom monitored by Reuters.
He said troops who swept into the hospital ordered all staff, patients and displaced people into its courtyard before allowing them hours later to return inside, though some staff including its Indonesian emergency surgery team and some displaced were ordered to leave the premises for good.
The Israeli military declined immediate comment. It has accused Hamas militants of using civilian buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks for operational cover throughout the 14-month Gaza war. Hamas has denied this, accusing Israel of indiscriminate bombings and assaults.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been caught in renewed Israeli military operations in north Gaza against regrouping militants.
“This morning, we were shocked to see hundreds of bodies and wounded individuals in the streets surrounding the hospital,” Abu Safiya said in another statement posted online.
“The situation inside the hospital and in its vicinity is catastrophic. There are a large number of (dead) martyrs and wounded individuals, and no surgeons are left,” he said.
Reuters could not independently authenticate his account, given a lack of media access to the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the three main hospitals on the northern end of the enclave are barely functioning and have been under repeated attack since Israel sent tanks into Beit Lahiya and nearby Beit Hanoun and Jabalia in October.
DISTRESS CALL
In a distress call on Friday, the ministry accused the Israeli military of committing a “war crime” in Kamal Adwan Hospital by perpetrating “all forms of killing and violence inside and around it”.
It added: “The injured who remained inside are in critical condition and need immediate medical care.”
The ministry said only half of the 37 hospitals and clinics in the war-devastated territory remained operational but lacked essential equipment, manpower, and medical and fuel supplies.
The World Health Organization said on Friday Israeli forces had bombed Kamal Adwan Hospital early on Thursday apparently without warning its staff in advance.
“That is extremely concerning and should never happen,” WHO spokesperson Rik Peeperkorn told a Geneva briefing by video link. The hospital is now “minimally functional”, he added.
Israel’s military says it has killed hundreds of militants in fighting with Hamas in north Gaza since October, a heavily urbanised area it claimed to have subdued early this year.
On Friday, it said that over the past week its forces had killed several senior Hamas operatives who were involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack that precipitated the war, and were commanding militant units in north and central Gaza.
Hamas and its smaller ally Islamic Jihad say they have killed many Israeli soldiers in those areas in the same period.
Residents of Beit Lahiya said the army blew up several houses overnight not far from Kamal Adwan Hospital. Palestinians say Israel plans to carve out a buffer zone along the northern fringes of Gaza after depopulating the area. Israel denies this.
Israel launched its air and ground assault on densely populated, Hamas-ruled Gaza after militants stormed Israeli border communities 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and capturing over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israeli forces have laid much of Gaza to waste, displacing nearly the entire 2.3 million population. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 44,500 Gazans have been killed, with thousands more feared dead under the rubble.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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