The Israeli army has detained the head of the last working hospital in northern Gaza, as the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated its call for hospitals in the bombed Palestinian enclave to be protected.
In a statement on Saturday, the WHO said the Kamal Adwan Hospital was “empty” after the hospital The Israeli army they took over the place and drove away the medical staff and many of the patients.
“Yesterday evening, the remaining 15 patients, 50 caregivers and 20 medical workers were transferred to an Indonesian hospital, which does not have the necessary equipment and necessary to provide adequate care,” the United Nations health agency. he said.
“Traveling with the treatment of such vulnerable patients puts their lives at risk. WHO is deeply concerned about their health, as well as the director of the hospital Kamal Adwan who is said to have been arrested during the attack.”
The WHO said it had lost contact with its director, Hussam Abu Safia, since the attack began.
The Israeli military said it had launched the attack on Kamal Adwan – which, as of Friday morning, had killed around 350 patients and medical staff – because the hospital was “working as a terrorist organization for Hamas”.
Israel has not provided any evidence to back up its claims, and Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, has said it “disputes” the claims.
The attack on the Kamal Adwan hospital this morning has put this major hospital in the North #Gaza Out of service. Initial reports indicate that some important departments were badly burned and damaged during the shelling.
60 medical staff and 25 patients are at risk,… pic.twitter.com/bD5eJgnVkR
– World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 27, 2024
Gaza health officials said on Saturday that Israeli soldiers had taken Abu Safia, and many other hospital workers, “to a detention center for questioning”.
The Israeli military later confirmed that Abu Safia was among those detained for questioning. his whereabouts are unknown.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza quoted Abu Safia as saying that the army “burned all the surgical departments of the hospital” and that “there are many wounded” among the medical team.
'Hospitals become battlefields'
The attack on the Kamal Adwan Hospital comes amid an Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, which began in October. Israel said they put up a fence in the region, greatly reducing the delivery of aid to the Palestinians there.
The WHO said it had also recorded “increasing restrictions on access and repeated attacks” on medical facilities since early October.
“WHO wants to urgently ensure that hospitals in North Gaza can be supported to resume operations,” the organization said on Saturday.
“Hospitals have also become battlegrounds, reminiscent of the destruction of hospitals in Gaza City earlier this year.”
The Israeli military said the hospital had become “a highly protected area for terrorist organizations and continues to be used as a terrorist hideout”.
Before launching the latest attack on Kamal Adwan, the Israeli military said its soldiers “helped civilians, patients, and medical workers to flee”.
Hamas denied that its fighters were present in the hospital and urged the UN to set up a commission of inquiry “to look into the extent of the crimes taking place in northern Gaza”.
“We categorically reject the presence of any army or fighters in the hospital,” Hamas said in a statement.
Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut said the Israeli military has often accused Hamas fighters of working in hospitals but has not provided evidence for their claims.
“The most notable was the attack on al-Shifa hospital in 2023 when the military said that Hamas was using al-Shifa as a command and control center, which has not yet been confirmed,” he said.
“Now, Kamal Adwan was the last hospital in northern Gaza, but it was not working because of the siege by the Israeli army – around food, water, and all kinds of medicine.”
Witnesses are telling about their problems
Ismail al-Kahlout, a nurse who works at the hospital, told Al Jazeera that staff and patients were kept in the cold for hours by Israeli soldiers while they were almost naked.
Some Palestinians, including those who were injured or sick, were beaten. He said: “The Israeli soldiers tied us up and blindfolded us. We could hear people screaming but we didn't know who was being beaten.
Shorouk al-Rantisi, who was also besieged in Kamal Adwan, said Israeli soldiers denied people water and prevented them from going to the toilet.
“We are living in humiliation,” he told Al Jazeera. “We are tired. We are tired. Enough.”
The head of the hospital has repeatedly complained about the current situation.
“The world must understand that our hospital wants to kill and forcibly remove the people inside,” Abu Safia said in a statement on Monday.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 45,300 Palestinians since October last year, mostly children and women, according to health officials in the enclave. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have fled their homes and most of Gaza is a wasteland.