After nearly 80 days of the doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia appealing for the international community to act as they refused to leave the hospital to ensure services would continue for those who needed them in the northern Gaza Strip in the face of an Israeli siege, the Israeli army finally stormed the hospital at dawn on Friday. Since the raid began, contact with the medical teams and patients inside the hospital has been cut off.
More than 350 people were inside the hospital, including doctors, nurses, workers, patients, and some of their companions, at the time of the attack. Their condition and whereabouts are now unknown after the Israeli army stormed the hospital.
In a press conference held at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, Maher Shamiya, the Undersecretary of the Gaza Ministry of Health, said that the ministry confirmed that the occupation forces burned the buildings of Kamal Adwan Hospital.
“Kamal Adwan Hospital has been subjected to a concentrated military campaign since dawn today, targeting everyone in it, about 350 people who were present there, including staff, patients, companions, and civilians. A large number of patients who can walk, in addition to the medical staff inside the hospital, are being forced at gunpoint to leave the hospital, and the army takes them to an unknown location,” Shamiya reported. “Twenty-five patients in moderate condition were forced at gunpoint to leave to the Indonesian Hospital, which is out of service.”
The Ministry confirmed that the Israeli army burned and vandalized various buildings and departments inside the hospital.
“The occupation forces burned buildings in Kamal Adwan Hospital, including the engineering and maintenance building, the central laboratory, the operations department, the surgery department, and the entire hospital’s warehouses, in addition to destroying the electric generators, oxygen and water stations, and the kidney dialysis department. The fire is still burning,” the Ministry of Health said.
Since the beginning of October , the Israeli army has been carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign in north Gaza, as part of ‘The General’s Plan’. Starting in Jabalia, the army imposed a crippling siege aimed at starving residents out, while also intensifying its military attacks. Since then, the army has extended the siege and attacks to all areas in the north, such as Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, forcing people to go south, towards Gaza City. It is estimated that of the more than 200,000 inhabitants of northern Gaza that were present as of October this year, some thousands remain. Part of the army’s strategy to force people out of the north, residents say, is by further crippling the already devastated healthcare system.
Shurooq al-Rantisi arrived from Kamal Adwan Hospital to the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City. Fatigue and terror were evident on her face, and her speech was haltering. “We were surprised when the Israeli army surrounded the hospital and set fire to the archives department,” al-Rantisi said. “The fire spread to the morgue. Then the army called the hospital director and told us that they would storm the hospital and began to take us out in groups.”
“A large number of people left the hospital, and we left. The women were separated from the men, and we were searched and forced to take off our clothes. Any woman who refused to take off her clothes was beaten and insulted. Then, after they finished searching for us and forcing us to sit and wait for hours, they ordered us to walk until we left Beit Lahia.”
Al-Rantisi also says that the army insulted and abused them. “They confiscated our phones and took everything we were carrying. We left Beit Lahia with nothing. They did not respect the women, the patients, or the doctors. They made fun of us and did not care about anything.”
She said she does not know the fate of those who remained in the hospital, nor her colleagues from the medical staff or the patients.
The Ministry of Health said in statements via Telegram that several patients are at risk of death at any moment due to the harsh conditions they are going through. The Ministry also confirmed that the hospital director received a direct threat from the Israeli army to arrest him.
Three public hospitals, Beit Hanoun Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, and Kamal Adwan Hospital, provided medical services in the northern Gaza Strip. After the destruction of all infrastructure, Beit Hanoun Hospital was completely destroyed, and the Indonesian Hospital became completely out of service.
Kamal Adwan Hospital is the only hospital that was partially operating due to a lack of medical capabilities and supplies.
“What is happening today is the occupation’s directing of the final blow to the remaining health system in northern Gaza, and this is completely consistent with the generals’ plan to end the presence of the population in the northern Gaza Strip,” the Ministry of Health said via Telegram.
Yesterday, the hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, published a painful message describing the situation in Kamal Adwan Hospital. Abu Safiya wrote in the message, “There are approximately 50 martyrs, including three medical staff, under the rubble of a building opposite the hospital after the bombing of warplanes.”
Abu Safiya painted a horribly grim picture of the Israeli campaign to destroy the hospital, which in the process killed many who had stayed behind to make sure the medical facility would stay operational.
“Ahmad Samour, a pediatrician, was working at the hospital and went out to the tower where he lives with his family. The army bombed the tower. As for Israa, the lab technician, she went to bring food to her father and brother in the same building. When Fares, the maintenance technician, saw the scene, he rushed to try to provide assistance and rescue. Still, the planes targeted him as well, which led to the martyrdom of the three, along with more than 50 of our staff under the rubble,” Abu Safiya described.
At the time of writing, the whereabouts of Dr. Abu Safiya, who was reportedly detained by the military in the raid on Friday, remained unknown.
