Israeli forces detained the director of one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza as overnight attacks in the enclave killed nine people, including children, Palestinian medical officials said, while sirens rang out across Israel. They were ringing.
Gaza's Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, was arrested by Israeli forces. According to the ministry, the announcement came a day after Israeli soldiers stormed the hospital, forcing many staff and patients to move out for the winter.
The Israeli military did not respond to questions about Dr. Abu Safiya. On Friday, he denied claims he had entered the complex or set it on fire, saying he was conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and militants in the area and had ordered people out of the hospital.
He reiterated that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan Hospital but provided no evidence. The hospital authorities have denied this.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been targeted several times over the past three months by Israeli forces operating against Hamas fighters in the surrounding area. Five medical personnel were killed in an attack on the hospital earlier this week, the ministry said.
Israel's nearly 15-month campaign of bombardment and aggression has devastated Gaza's health sector. More than 45,400 Palestinians, more than half women and children, have been killed and more than 108,000 injured in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry. Its calculation does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The ministry said Dr. Abu Safia was detained at the hospital on Friday along with dozens of other staff and taken to an interrogation center.
Get breaking national news.
For news that affects Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you as they happen.
On Friday, MedGlobal, the humanitarian organization where Dr. Abu Safia worked, said he was a key physician in the group and was deeply concerned about him. The group said the incident followed the detention of five other staff members in October, which it described as a “dangerous and heinous pattern” of targeting medical staff and facilities.
Since October, Israel's offensive has virtually sealed off and leveled large parts of the northern Gaza enclaves of Jabalia, Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly evicted, but thousands more are believed to remain in the area where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which they killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250. There are about 100 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, a third of whom have been killed.
On Saturday, Israel continued to attack Gaza. At least nine people, including women and children, were killed in the overnight attack in Maghazi, according to one. Associated Press The reporter who saw the bodies and staff at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where they were taken.
Israel said its troops had also launched an operation in the northern city of Beit Hanoun, following intelligence that militants and Hamas infrastructure were located in the area.
Attacks on Israel also continued. On Saturday morning, air raid sirens woke Israelis again and the military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Israeli warplanes bombed Yemen's infrastructure once again on Thursday. Iran-backed Houthi rebels are also attacking shipping in the Red Sea and say they will not stop until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza.
