Israeli forces detained more than 240 Palestinians at a hospital in northern Gaza on Friday, including the hospital's director and dozens of medical workers, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health and the Israeli military.
The Health Ministry expressed concern about the condition of Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, after some staff released by the Israeli military late Friday reported that he had been beaten by soldiers.
The Israeli military said the hospital was used as a command center for Hamas military operations and that those arrested were suspected militants. It said Abu Safiya was taken for questioning on suspicion of being a Hamas agent.
On Friday, Hamas rejected Israel's claims that its fighters operated from the hospital throughout the 15-month war in Gaza, saying there were no fighters at the hospital. The group has not yet commented on the 240 arrests.
In its statement on Saturday, Hamas called on the UN and relevant international agencies to urgently intervene to protect and supply the remaining hospitals and medical facilities in northern Gaza.
The group also called for UN observers to be sent to medical facilities in Gaza to counter Israeli allegations that they are being used for military purposes.
An airstrike on the hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern tip of Gaza, has knocked the last major health facility in the area out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X on Friday.
In a statement released on Saturday, it said: “WHO is appalled by yesterday's raid. The systematic dismantling of the healthcare system and the more than 80-day siege of North Gaza are putting the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk.”
The Ministry of Health said some patients were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to an Indonesian hospital that is not open, and doctors were not allowed to join them. The remaining patients and staff were transported to other medical facilities.
Destruction in the northern Gaza Strip
The Israeli military said 350 patients and medical staff were evacuated in Kamal Adwan ahead of the operation, and another 95 were evacuated to an Indonesian hospital during the operation, in consultation with local health authorities.
Gaza's Ministry of Health also reported that 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave on Saturday, including at least nine in a house in the Maghazi camp in central Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the attacks or death toll.
Over the past few months, Israeli forces have driven people back and razed much of the area around the towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.
In a new report, Amnesty International has accused the state of Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians during the Gaza war, which Israel has vehemently denied, saying it abides by international law.
Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing by depopulating these areas to create a buffer zone. Israel denies doing this, saying it is intended to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping in these areas.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it began operations overnight against targets in the Beit Hanoun area, adding that “soldiers are allowing civilians in the area to leave for their own safety.”
He then ordered residents to leave and head towards southern Gaza.
It said two rockets fired from northern Gaza were intercepted, including one towards Jerusalem.
Israel's campaign against Hamas, which previously controlled Gaza, has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced and much of the Gaza Strip is in ruins.
According to Israeli data, the war was sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken to Gaza as hostages.