Israeli forces burn Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, contact with staff lost
The Gaza Health Ministry says it has lost contact with staff inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital as Israel sets fire to it
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
27 December, 2024
Israeli forces set fire to the Kamal Adwan hospital [Getty]
Israeli forces on Friday raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, torching large sections and ordering dozens of patients and hundreds of others to leave, officials said.
In separate incidents across Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 25 people, medics said. One of those strikes on a house in Gaza City killed 15 people, medics and the civil emergency service said.
The Palestinian health ministry said contact with staff inside the facility, which has been under heavy pressure from Israeli forces for weeks, had been lost.
"The occupation forces are inside the hospital now and they are burning it," Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said in a statement.
Youssef Abu El-Rish, the deputy health minister in Gaza, said troops set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the hospital’s lab and surgery department.
An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed 50 people near the hospital, including five medical workers.
The ministry said 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital out of 75 patients and 180 staff. However attempts to reach hospital staff were unsuccessful.
“Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified member of the staff said in an audio message from the hospital posted on the social media accounts of its director Hossam Abu Safiya.
The staffer said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen. “There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she said.
Like the Indonesian and Al-Awda hospitals, Kamal Adwan has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces who have been attacking the northern edge of the Gaza Strip for weeks, Palestinian medical staff say.
Hundreds ordered to leave hospital
Bursh said the army had ordered 350 people to leave Kamal Adwan for a nearby school sheltering displaced families. They included 75 patients, their companions, and 185 medical staff.
Abu El-Rish said soldiers were transferring patients and medical staff to the Indonesian Hospital, which had already been put out of action by heavy damage and had been evacuated by Israeli forces a day earlier.
Footage circulating on Palestinian and Arab media showed smoke rising from the area of Kamal Adwan.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia has been cleared of people and systematically razed, fuelling speculation that Israel intends to ethnically cleanse the area and permanently occupy it.
In a statement, Hamas blamed Israel and the United States for the fate of Kamal Adwan Hospital's occupants.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed over 45,436 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced, and much of Gaza is in ruins.
The Gaza Health Ministry says it has lost contact with staff inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital as Israel sets fire to it
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
27 December, 2024
Israeli forces set fire to the Kamal Adwan hospital [Getty]
Israeli forces on Friday raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, torching large sections and ordering dozens of patients and hundreds of others to leave, officials said.
In separate incidents across Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 25 people, medics said. One of those strikes on a house in Gaza City killed 15 people, medics and the civil emergency service said.
The Palestinian health ministry said contact with staff inside the facility, which has been under heavy pressure from Israeli forces for weeks, had been lost.
"The occupation forces are inside the hospital now and they are burning it," Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said in a statement.
Youssef Abu El-Rish, the deputy health minister in Gaza, said troops set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the hospital’s lab and surgery department.
An Israeli airstrike on Thursday killed 50 people near the hospital, including five medical workers.
The ministry said 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital out of 75 patients and 180 staff. However attempts to reach hospital staff were unsuccessful.
“Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified member of the staff said in an audio message from the hospital posted on the social media accounts of its director Hossam Abu Safiya.
The staffer said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen. “There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she said.
Like the Indonesian and Al-Awda hospitals, Kamal Adwan has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces who have been attacking the northern edge of the Gaza Strip for weeks, Palestinian medical staff say.
Hundreds ordered to leave hospital
Bursh said the army had ordered 350 people to leave Kamal Adwan for a nearby school sheltering displaced families. They included 75 patients, their companions, and 185 medical staff.
Abu El-Rish said soldiers were transferring patients and medical staff to the Indonesian Hospital, which had already been put out of action by heavy damage and had been evacuated by Israeli forces a day earlier.
Footage circulating on Palestinian and Arab media showed smoke rising from the area of Kamal Adwan.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia has been cleared of people and systematically razed, fuelling speculation that Israel intends to ethnically cleanse the area and permanently occupy it.
In a statement, Hamas blamed Israel and the United States for the fate of Kamal Adwan Hospital's occupants.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed over 45,436 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced, and much of Gaza is in ruins.
Health Ministry calls for alternative medical services for civilians after Israeli raid on Gaza hospital
December 27, 2024
December 27, 2024
MEMO
A view of destruction following the Israeli attack on the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surrounding buildings in Beit Lahya, Gaza on December 25, 2024.
A view of destruction following the Israeli attack on the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surrounding buildings in Beit Lahya, Gaza on December 25, 2024.
[Khalil Ramzi Alkahlut – Anadolu Agency]
Gaza’s Health Ministry appealed to the international community on Friday to provide alternative medical services for civilians after an Israeli raid on a main hospital in the north of the enclave, Anadolu Agency reports.
The Israeli army raided Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday, burning large sections and forcing patients and displaced civilians to flee.
“The hospital has been under attack since dawn, forcing around 350 health workers, patients, and civilians to evacuate at gunpoint,” Maher Shamiyeh, assistant undersecretary for Gaza’s Health Ministry, told a press conference.
“The Israeli army set fire to the hospital buildings, including the engineering and maintenance building, the central laboratory, and the hospital stores,” he added.
Shamiyeh urged the international community to intervene “to save what is left from Gaza’s health system and to provide alternative medical services for civilians in northern Gaza.”
READ: Communication cut off as Israeli forces surround, evacuate Kamal Adwan Hospital
He also called for opening urgent humanitarian corridors “to ensure patients get access to medical services and the delivery of logistical and medical aid.”
Israel has continued a large-scale ground offensive in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent the Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
Since then, no sufficient humanitarian aid including food, medicine and fuel has been allowed into the area, leaving the remaining population on the verge of imminent famine.
The onslaught was the latest episode in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed over 45,400 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Gaza’s Health Ministry appealed to the international community on Friday to provide alternative medical services for civilians after an Israeli raid on a main hospital in the north of the enclave, Anadolu Agency reports.
The Israeli army raided Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday, burning large sections and forcing patients and displaced civilians to flee.
“The hospital has been under attack since dawn, forcing around 350 health workers, patients, and civilians to evacuate at gunpoint,” Maher Shamiyeh, assistant undersecretary for Gaza’s Health Ministry, told a press conference.
“The Israeli army set fire to the hospital buildings, including the engineering and maintenance building, the central laboratory, and the hospital stores,” he added.
Shamiyeh urged the international community to intervene “to save what is left from Gaza’s health system and to provide alternative medical services for civilians in northern Gaza.”
READ: Communication cut off as Israeli forces surround, evacuate Kamal Adwan Hospital
He also called for opening urgent humanitarian corridors “to ensure patients get access to medical services and the delivery of logistical and medical aid.”
Israel has continued a large-scale ground offensive in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent the Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
Since then, no sufficient humanitarian aid including food, medicine and fuel has been allowed into the area, leaving the remaining population on the verge of imminent famine.
The onslaught was the latest episode in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed over 45,400 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
‘We will leave when the last Palestinian leaves’: The defiant last stand of the doctors of Kamal Adwan Hospital
For 75 days, doctors in this north Gaza hospital have withstood the Israeli army's attempts to forcibly evacuate them and their patients. In the face of death, the doctors are still refusing to leave, even as the army steps up its attacks
For 75 days, doctors in this north Gaza hospital have withstood the Israeli army's attempts to forcibly evacuate them and their patients. In the face of death, the doctors are still refusing to leave, even as the army steps up its attacks
.
By Tareq S. Hajjaj
By Tareq S. Hajjaj
December 25, 2024
MONDOWEISS
Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiyeh (middle), holds up his hands during the Israeli invasion of the hospital, October 26, 2024. (Photo: Screenshot/Social Media)
Patients are trying to sleep inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. But just outside, they can see a remote-controlled robot carrying explosives sent by the Israeli army. It’s only a matter of time before the bomb is detonated. Tanks and bulldozers move around the hospital and in front of its entrances all day long. The sounds of explosions and bullets do not stop.
Inside the hospital, there is a constant state of panic. With each new explosion or round of fire, patients flee from one wing of the hospital to another, crowding in the narrow hospital corridors to sleep like sardines, hoping that they will be safe.
This is the current reality at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, one of the last semi-functioning hospitals in northern Gaza. For 75 days, the hospital has been under siege by the Israeli army, which has banned the entry of food, medicine, and water, while periodically cutting off communications inside the hospital, preventing doctors and patients from communicating with the outside world. Not to mention the constant bombings.
In recent days, the army has stepped up its attacks on the hospital. According to witnesses, the Israeli army has deployed the use of remote-controlled robots, which approach the hospital gates, the surrounding areas, and its courtyard, dropping boxes filled with explosives that are later detonated remotely. The Israeli army has attacked the hospital dozens of times over the past 10 days, and in addition to the remote-controlled explosives, the army has been firing live bullets and artillery fire at the hospital, and has also been using drones and quadcopters in its attacks.
“Yesterday we went through a difficult night that no one can imagine. At dawn, there was violent and direct targeting of the intensive care unit, Dr. Muhammad Barid told Mondoweiss from inside the ICU at the hospital on Tuesday, December 24.
“Some of the effects are still present. Shells fell and set fires inside the department. The department is crowded with cases because the intensive care unit in Kamal Adwan Hospital is the only department operating in the northern Gaza Strip,” he said.
Dr. Barid highlights the grim reality facing patients in the intensive care unit, emphasizing that most patients are heavily dependent on ventilators, and require constant care from medical staff.
The intensive care unit, which is designed to accommodate only 16 patients, is now treating 47 individuals. Due to lack of supplies and a staff who are stretched thin, patients receive treatment only once a day instead of the usual three times, while patients with wounds struggle are given just one dressing change without further evaluation. Those inside, including both patients and medical staff, rely on limited supplies that have managed to enter the hospital via humanitarian organizations and medical delegations amidst the prolonged siege.
Ahmed Al-Barawi, a wounded man lying in the hospital recounts the horrific experiences that have made it impossible for him to recover. He expresses that the dire circumstances he faces—due to treatment shortcomings and a lack of essential medical supplies—has transformed the hospital into something unrecognizable.
“It’s a hospital in name only. The [Israeli] occupation has stripped even the most basic levels of care from us,” he said. “We suffer daily due to inadequate medical supplies, receiving only what amounts to first aid. Meanwhile, the shelling and continuous gunfire at the hospital add to our despair,” Al-Barawi explains.
He details the events from the previous day, December 23, when the hospital and its vicinity were targeted over ten times. According to him, electric generators were set ablaze, buildings were damaged, and patients were harmed by shattered doors and glass.
“Yesterday, they placed a robot next to the hospital and detonated it. We had to flee from our beds and spent the whole night in the corridors. Shelling and shooting were everywhere.”
Al-Barawi continues: “The hospital has become a place where people die rather than receive care,” adding that not only is medicine in short supply, but so are food and water.
“We urge the world to pay attention, to stand with us even just once, and help us against this enemy and this siege—the pain we experience is unbearable for any human being. We are humans, if you know what humanity means, not the animals the Israeli occupation claims we are.”
Dr. Barid expresses profound frustration at the lack of international response to months-long calls from doctors at the hospital to stop the army’s attacks. “There is no justification that gives anyone the right to target such places. We have repeatedly appealed to the world to provide protection for hospitals, but unfortunately, no one responded. There are no messages left to send.hank you to the world,” he finishes sarcastically.
‘We will fulfill our oath as doctors’
The current situation at the Kamal Adwan Hospital underscores the dire situation facing healthcare providers and patients across Gaza. What were once places of healing have been turned into war zones by Israel.
Since October 5, 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. Throughout the siege, the army has stepped up its attacks on civil defense teams and first responders, bombing their outposts and attacking their crews, essentially making it impossible for the wounded to be rescued or treated.
As the last functioning hospital in north Gaza, the Kamal Adwan Hospital has become one of the primary targets of the Israeli military operations. According to doctors at the hospital, over the course of 75 days, the Israeli army has killed 17 medical personnel from the hospital, injured over 50 others, and arrested 46 individuals from the hospital grounds.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospital director, who himself has been targeted by Israeli army bullets, says the attacks on the hospital are unfounded. He noted that the Israeli army had previously raided the hospital’s ICU in November 2023, at which time no evidence was found to justify Israel’s claims that hospitals were being used by Hamas or other armed groups. The Israeli army is “aware of its [the hospital’s] purpose, as there are no other facilities providing such care in the northern Gaza Strip,” Dr. Abu Safiya states,describing the targeting of the hospital as violent and terrifying, likening it to a war zone.
“I don’t know why we are being bombed in this way. It is clear that the bombing was done with the aim of killing, based on the level of fire on the walls,” Abu Safiya says. “This is a dangerous matter, and we have asked the world, and are still asking, for international protection.”
“What we seek is to neutralize the hospital from bombing and targeting. This facility provides humanitarian services and is filled only with patients, companions, the injured, and medical staff. Why we are being bombed in this way, I don’t know,” he says.
Since the onset of the Israeli army’s invasion of the northern Gaza Strip in early October, Dr. Abu Safiya has been actively urging for measures to be taken to safeguard the lives of patients and assist the wounded. However, in the wake of no international response, the Israeli army has continued to enforce a suffocating siege on the facility in an effort to drive the patients and doctors out, along with all residents who refuse to leave northern Gaza.
“For 75 days, we have been calling on the world for international protection for the health system. These are laws established by the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate the protection of the health system,” Dr. Abu Safiya says. “Where are these laws? What sin did we commit in this hospital to be bombed and killed in this way?”
As Dr. Abu Safiya speaks, two massive explosions can be heard in the background.”This is the case all day and night; we are bombarded with these bombs. The shrapnel is flying as we speak in front of the world. We are bombed all day and night like this, either around the hospital or inside it.”
Despite the horrific conditions at the hospital, doctors inside Kamal Adwan insist that they are dedicated to the humanitarian oath they took when they began their medical careers, vowing to provide care to those in need. They are resolute about remaining in the hospital, refusing to leave under any circumstances.
“We will leave when the last Palestinian leaves the northern Gaza Strip,” Dr. Abu Safiya declared defiantly. “We will stay and serve those who are here. This is a humanitarian mission, and our message to the world is that we deliver humanitarian care and should not be obstructed. We committed ourselves to providing for those in need, and we will fulfill our oath as doctors here at Kamal Adwan Hospital.”
Mohammed Al-Sharif contributed to this report from inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
Patients are trying to sleep inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. But just outside, they can see a remote-controlled robot carrying explosives sent by the Israeli army. It’s only a matter of time before the bomb is detonated. Tanks and bulldozers move around the hospital and in front of its entrances all day long. The sounds of explosions and bullets do not stop.
Inside the hospital, there is a constant state of panic. With each new explosion or round of fire, patients flee from one wing of the hospital to another, crowding in the narrow hospital corridors to sleep like sardines, hoping that they will be safe.
This is the current reality at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, one of the last semi-functioning hospitals in northern Gaza. For 75 days, the hospital has been under siege by the Israeli army, which has banned the entry of food, medicine, and water, while periodically cutting off communications inside the hospital, preventing doctors and patients from communicating with the outside world. Not to mention the constant bombings.
In recent days, the army has stepped up its attacks on the hospital. According to witnesses, the Israeli army has deployed the use of remote-controlled robots, which approach the hospital gates, the surrounding areas, and its courtyard, dropping boxes filled with explosives that are later detonated remotely. The Israeli army has attacked the hospital dozens of times over the past 10 days, and in addition to the remote-controlled explosives, the army has been firing live bullets and artillery fire at the hospital, and has also been using drones and quadcopters in its attacks.
“Yesterday we went through a difficult night that no one can imagine. At dawn, there was violent and direct targeting of the intensive care unit, Dr. Muhammad Barid told Mondoweiss from inside the ICU at the hospital on Tuesday, December 24.
“Some of the effects are still present. Shells fell and set fires inside the department. The department is crowded with cases because the intensive care unit in Kamal Adwan Hospital is the only department operating in the northern Gaza Strip,” he said.
Dr. Barid highlights the grim reality facing patients in the intensive care unit, emphasizing that most patients are heavily dependent on ventilators, and require constant care from medical staff.
The intensive care unit, which is designed to accommodate only 16 patients, is now treating 47 individuals. Due to lack of supplies and a staff who are stretched thin, patients receive treatment only once a day instead of the usual three times, while patients with wounds struggle are given just one dressing change without further evaluation. Those inside, including both patients and medical staff, rely on limited supplies that have managed to enter the hospital via humanitarian organizations and medical delegations amidst the prolonged siege.
Ahmed Al-Barawi, a wounded man lying in the hospital recounts the horrific experiences that have made it impossible for him to recover. He expresses that the dire circumstances he faces—due to treatment shortcomings and a lack of essential medical supplies—has transformed the hospital into something unrecognizable.
“It’s a hospital in name only. The [Israeli] occupation has stripped even the most basic levels of care from us,” he said. “We suffer daily due to inadequate medical supplies, receiving only what amounts to first aid. Meanwhile, the shelling and continuous gunfire at the hospital add to our despair,” Al-Barawi explains.
He details the events from the previous day, December 23, when the hospital and its vicinity were targeted over ten times. According to him, electric generators were set ablaze, buildings were damaged, and patients were harmed by shattered doors and glass.
“Yesterday, they placed a robot next to the hospital and detonated it. We had to flee from our beds and spent the whole night in the corridors. Shelling and shooting were everywhere.”
Al-Barawi continues: “The hospital has become a place where people die rather than receive care,” adding that not only is medicine in short supply, but so are food and water.
“We urge the world to pay attention, to stand with us even just once, and help us against this enemy and this siege—the pain we experience is unbearable for any human being. We are humans, if you know what humanity means, not the animals the Israeli occupation claims we are.”
Dr. Barid expresses profound frustration at the lack of international response to months-long calls from doctors at the hospital to stop the army’s attacks. “There is no justification that gives anyone the right to target such places. We have repeatedly appealed to the world to provide protection for hospitals, but unfortunately, no one responded. There are no messages left to send.hank you to the world,” he finishes sarcastically.
‘We will fulfill our oath as doctors’
The current situation at the Kamal Adwan Hospital underscores the dire situation facing healthcare providers and patients across Gaza. What were once places of healing have been turned into war zones by Israel.
Since October 5, 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. Throughout the siege, the army has stepped up its attacks on civil defense teams and first responders, bombing their outposts and attacking their crews, essentially making it impossible for the wounded to be rescued or treated.
As the last functioning hospital in north Gaza, the Kamal Adwan Hospital has become one of the primary targets of the Israeli military operations. According to doctors at the hospital, over the course of 75 days, the Israeli army has killed 17 medical personnel from the hospital, injured over 50 others, and arrested 46 individuals from the hospital grounds.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospital director, who himself has been targeted by Israeli army bullets, says the attacks on the hospital are unfounded. He noted that the Israeli army had previously raided the hospital’s ICU in November 2023, at which time no evidence was found to justify Israel’s claims that hospitals were being used by Hamas or other armed groups. The Israeli army is “aware of its [the hospital’s] purpose, as there are no other facilities providing such care in the northern Gaza Strip,” Dr. Abu Safiya states,describing the targeting of the hospital as violent and terrifying, likening it to a war zone.
“I don’t know why we are being bombed in this way. It is clear that the bombing was done with the aim of killing, based on the level of fire on the walls,” Abu Safiya says. “This is a dangerous matter, and we have asked the world, and are still asking, for international protection.”
“What we seek is to neutralize the hospital from bombing and targeting. This facility provides humanitarian services and is filled only with patients, companions, the injured, and medical staff. Why we are being bombed in this way, I don’t know,” he says.
Since the onset of the Israeli army’s invasion of the northern Gaza Strip in early October, Dr. Abu Safiya has been actively urging for measures to be taken to safeguard the lives of patients and assist the wounded. However, in the wake of no international response, the Israeli army has continued to enforce a suffocating siege on the facility in an effort to drive the patients and doctors out, along with all residents who refuse to leave northern Gaza.
“For 75 days, we have been calling on the world for international protection for the health system. These are laws established by the Geneva Conventions, which stipulate the protection of the health system,” Dr. Abu Safiya says. “Where are these laws? What sin did we commit in this hospital to be bombed and killed in this way?”
As Dr. Abu Safiya speaks, two massive explosions can be heard in the background.”This is the case all day and night; we are bombarded with these bombs. The shrapnel is flying as we speak in front of the world. We are bombed all day and night like this, either around the hospital or inside it.”
Despite the horrific conditions at the hospital, doctors inside Kamal Adwan insist that they are dedicated to the humanitarian oath they took when they began their medical careers, vowing to provide care to those in need. They are resolute about remaining in the hospital, refusing to leave under any circumstances.
“We will leave when the last Palestinian leaves the northern Gaza Strip,” Dr. Abu Safiya declared defiantly. “We will stay and serve those who are here. This is a humanitarian mission, and our message to the world is that we deliver humanitarian care and should not be obstructed. We committed ourselves to providing for those in need, and we will fulfill our oath as doctors here at Kamal Adwan Hospital.”
Mohammed Al-Sharif contributed to this report from inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
The perks for genocide in Gaza
Palestinians leave their homes with the belongings they could take with them due to the Israeli army’s attacks in Shuja’iyya neighbourhood east of Gaza City on December 23, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]
Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, have blended into their surroundings of tents amid tons of rubble, where growing their own food is impossible and food itself is weaponised by Israel to enable it to commit massacres. Their places of worship have been decimated, as have their hospitals. The trauma Palestinians have been exposed to since the 1948 Nakba will require new descriptive terminology, and what of the mental health practitioners who have trauma of their own as a result of the genocide? Israel has destroyed all life in Gaza to construct a colonial society, starting with its soldiers.
Human Rights Watch’s latest report states that since 7 October 2023, Israel has deprived Palestinians of access to water, which was already scarce in Gaza. The World Health Organisation established a minimum of 50-100 litres of water per person daily to meet basic needs. By 2021, each Palestinian in Gaza could only access 83 litres per day. Since 7 October 2023, the amount has fallen to 2-9 litres per person daily, much less than the 15 litres established as a minimum in protracted emergency situations.
In October 2023, Israel’s then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a complete siege of Gaza: “no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed.”
No wonder a warrant for his arrest has been issued by the International Criminal Court.
In contrast to such deliberate deprivation to enhance the prospects of the genocide’s success, Israeli soldiers reap the opposite not as basic human rights, but as perks for committing genocide. Of course, the ultimate perk is the re-establishment of Zionist settlers in Gaza, for which the Israeli military is laying the foundations. The world, meanwhile, not only sits, but rests, idly by.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
A view from the Kamal Adwan Hospital, damaged after the attacks of Israeli army in the town of Beit Lahia, Gaza on October 27, 2024.
Palestinians leave their homes with the belongings they could take with them due to the Israeli army’s attacks in Shuja’iyya neighbourhood east of Gaza City on December 23, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]
MEMO
December 24, 2024
by Ramona Wadi
walzerscent
In “enemy territory” – Israel’s euphemism for Gaza – it is beyond satire to see the Israeli military destroying Gaza’s infrastructure in order to kill Palestinians, while building infrastructure for its soldiers. Ynet news has reported on the construction of a retreat for Israeli soldiers where they can relax, rest and enjoy comforts including access to water, medical and mental health services, all while committing genocide against Palestinians.
The report describes the facility as “a small beachfront retreat” which “offers soldiers a rare break from their gruelling missions in the Gaza Strip.” It is abnormal to think of luxuries just metres away from the victims of genocide in Gaza, but that is what Israel excels at: normalising the abnormal. And to add to the mockery, the report reads like an advert for a holiday resort. Although so far just confined to the military, Jared Kushner must be proud that his ideas about “prime Gaza beachfront real estate” have already been taken on board.
“Steak and other premium cuts are grilled to perfection”
While Israel is starving Palestinians to ensure that the genocide remains ongoing, Israeli soldiers at the retreat have “lavish breakfasts reminiscent of a hotel buffet”. The report notes that the table is set up on a green lawn. Soldiers have a barbecue area which offers more than standard fast food: “steak and other premium cuts are grilled to perfection.” They also have access to 99 per cent of the medication they may need, they have space for religious worship, a recreation area is under construction and, most importantly, there is a desalination plant that can produce 60,000 litres of drinking water daily.
December 24, 2024
by Ramona Wadi
walzerscent
In “enemy territory” – Israel’s euphemism for Gaza – it is beyond satire to see the Israeli military destroying Gaza’s infrastructure in order to kill Palestinians, while building infrastructure for its soldiers. Ynet news has reported on the construction of a retreat for Israeli soldiers where they can relax, rest and enjoy comforts including access to water, medical and mental health services, all while committing genocide against Palestinians.
The report describes the facility as “a small beachfront retreat” which “offers soldiers a rare break from their gruelling missions in the Gaza Strip.” It is abnormal to think of luxuries just metres away from the victims of genocide in Gaza, but that is what Israel excels at: normalising the abnormal. And to add to the mockery, the report reads like an advert for a holiday resort. Although so far just confined to the military, Jared Kushner must be proud that his ideas about “prime Gaza beachfront real estate” have already been taken on board.
“Steak and other premium cuts are grilled to perfection”
While Israel is starving Palestinians to ensure that the genocide remains ongoing, Israeli soldiers at the retreat have “lavish breakfasts reminiscent of a hotel buffet”. The report notes that the table is set up on a green lawn. Soldiers have a barbecue area which offers more than standard fast food: “steak and other premium cuts are grilled to perfection.” They also have access to 99 per cent of the medication they may need, they have space for religious worship, a recreation area is under construction and, most importantly, there is a desalination plant that can produce 60,000 litres of drinking water daily.
Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, have blended into their surroundings of tents amid tons of rubble, where growing their own food is impossible and food itself is weaponised by Israel to enable it to commit massacres. Their places of worship have been decimated, as have their hospitals. The trauma Palestinians have been exposed to since the 1948 Nakba will require new descriptive terminology, and what of the mental health practitioners who have trauma of their own as a result of the genocide? Israel has destroyed all life in Gaza to construct a colonial society, starting with its soldiers.
Human Rights Watch’s latest report states that since 7 October 2023, Israel has deprived Palestinians of access to water, which was already scarce in Gaza. The World Health Organisation established a minimum of 50-100 litres of water per person daily to meet basic needs. By 2021, each Palestinian in Gaza could only access 83 litres per day. Since 7 October 2023, the amount has fallen to 2-9 litres per person daily, much less than the 15 litres established as a minimum in protracted emergency situations.
In October 2023, Israel’s then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a complete siege of Gaza: “no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed.”
No wonder a warrant for his arrest has been issued by the International Criminal Court.
In contrast to such deliberate deprivation to enhance the prospects of the genocide’s success, Israeli soldiers reap the opposite not as basic human rights, but as perks for committing genocide. Of course, the ultimate perk is the re-establishment of Zionist settlers in Gaza, for which the Israeli military is laying the foundations. The world, meanwhile, not only sits, but rests, idly by.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
Opinion
Normalisation of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza’s hospitals and dehumanisation of Palestinian patients must end
Normalisation of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza’s hospitals and dehumanisation of Palestinian patients must end
A view from the Kamal Adwan Hospital, damaged after the attacks of Israeli army in the town of Beit Lahia, Gaza on October 27, 2024.
[Khalil Ramzi Alkahlut – Anadolu Agency]
by Anjuman Rahman
AnjumanAleena
by Anjuman Rahman
AnjumanAleena
December 21, 2024
MEMO
The deliberate targeting of hospitals in Gaza has been a sadistic trend highlighting the normalisation of war crimes in an international system increasingly indifferent to Palestinian suffering.
Since the Israeli military’s strike on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on 17 October last year, resulting in the immediate loss of over 500 Palestinian patients and medical professionals, the deliberate and systematic targeting of Gaza’s healthcare system has only intensified, reflecting a broader pattern of assaults aimed at crippling medical infrastructure and personnel.
Most recently, the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia town, the last functioning intensive care unit (ICU) in northern Gaza, was bombarded, leaving it in flames and out of service. Palestinian patients on ventilators were evacuated moments before the fire caused by Israel engulfed the ICU. According to the hospital’s Director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the attack involved sudden and intense gunfire, with Israeli forces deliberately targeting the ICU.
“Sudden and crazy gunfire was fired at the hospital with all kinds of weapons, and the occupation deliberately targeted the intensive care unit by firing at it clearly,” Abu Safiya said, noting that the fires were extinguished using only blankets and the limited drinking water left in the hospital.
The ICU, the only one in northern Gaza, is now completely out of service.
Israel’s violence also stole the life of Dr Said Joudah, the last remaining orthopaedic surgeon in the region. Despite having sustained injuries himself, Dr Joudah continued to travel between Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda Hospitals to treat the wounded. Tragically, an Israeli drone strike fatally targeted him. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, his death brought the total number of healthcare workers martyred to 1,057 since the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza. The ministry also reported a devastating toll of 45,000 martyrs and over 106,000 injured since October of last year.
Before bombs are dropped on hospitals or homes, there’s a process of dehumanisation that lays the groundwork, painting Palestinians as undeserving of dignity or protection. This process makes their suffering easier to ignore, as they are reduced to mere numbers or dismissed as “collateral damage” or “human shields”, stripping them of individuality. Children become “minors”, murdered civilians are referred to as having “died” and massacres are labelled as “chaotic scenes”. This deliberate erosion of humanity, perpetuated by media framing and selective language, anaesthetises the global psyche, numbing it to Israel’s ongoing military onslaught.
The media’s systematic misreporting reinforces the invisibility of Palestinian suffering while amplifying Israeli narratives, legitimising the atrocities under the guise of “defence” or “military operations”.
In Gaza, where the highest number of paediatric amputees is recorded, the scale of devastation has reached unimaginable proportions. Each new tragedy, a child who loses their limbs, another who dies in an airstrike, becomes part of an ever-expanding list of horrors. What was once unthinkable is now seen as routine, as the international community’s outrage wanes with each passing day.
Israel’s strike on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital shocked the world, and for a brief moment, there was global condemnation and talk of accountability. Yet, less than a year later, dozens of other hospitals, United Nations shelters and universities have been bombed. Kamal Adwan Hospital, already strained by water shortages after Israeli attacks on its water tanks, suffered continued shelling and even attacks from exploding robots and the fire in its ICU, which forced the evacuation of patients as the hospital struggled to continue its work.
Dr Abu Safiya described the scene as “catastrophic and dangerous”. He appealed for global intervention, noting that the healthcare system in Gaza has been pleading for protection for months without any response. The hospital faces daily attacks, including strikes on its generators, water tanks and oxygen network, leaving it in a precarious state and unable to serve the growing number of wounded arriving each day.
These attacks on medical facilities are a blatant violation of international law, which protects hospitals and medical personnel under the Geneva Conventions. Yet, these war crimes have gone unpunished. Israel continues to justify its actions under the banner of “self-defence,” while the global community, particularly Western powers, remains complicit through inaction.
Israel’s actions are shielded by an exceptionalism narrative that grants the state immunity from accountability. While it demands global recognition of its “right to self-defence”, it simultaneously denies Palestinians the right to a body, a home, a life. This duality extends to its self-investigative mechanisms, which consistently exonerate the military from allegations of wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the international response to Palestinian resistance, whether violent or non-violent, is delegitimised. Boycotts are branded offensive; peaceful protests are vilified. Even pleas for medical evacuations for injured children, such as Ahmed, the four-year-old amputee now receiving care in Italy after being denied entry to the UK, are dismissed.
The relentless assault on Gaza’s healthcare system is not just a Palestinian crisis, it is a global one. Targeting hospitals and civilians constitutes a rupture of international law, a breakdown of the principles that underpin any semblance of world order. As such violations have been going unchallenged, they’ve set a precedent for impunity, eroding the very foundation of human rights and justice.
The cost of dehumanisation is not borne solely by its victims. While Palestinians endure the unimaginable – burying their children, losing their homes and surviving under perpetual siege – those who engage in or enable dehumanisation suffer the slow erosion of their own humanity.
As Gaza’s hospitals burn and its children clutch their dolls beneath the rubble, the world’s silence grows louder. Culprits of genocide like Benjamin Netanyahu receive standing ovations from Western parliaments, while war crimes mount unchecked. Each passing day narrows the window for accountability and with it, the chance to reclaim a moral compass recognising every human life as sacred.
The normalisation of Israel’s attacks on hospitals in Gaza must end. The global community cannot afford to look away.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
The deliberate targeting of hospitals in Gaza has been a sadistic trend highlighting the normalisation of war crimes in an international system increasingly indifferent to Palestinian suffering.
Since the Israeli military’s strike on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on 17 October last year, resulting in the immediate loss of over 500 Palestinian patients and medical professionals, the deliberate and systematic targeting of Gaza’s healthcare system has only intensified, reflecting a broader pattern of assaults aimed at crippling medical infrastructure and personnel.
Most recently, the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia town, the last functioning intensive care unit (ICU) in northern Gaza, was bombarded, leaving it in flames and out of service. Palestinian patients on ventilators were evacuated moments before the fire caused by Israel engulfed the ICU. According to the hospital’s Director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the attack involved sudden and intense gunfire, with Israeli forces deliberately targeting the ICU.
“Sudden and crazy gunfire was fired at the hospital with all kinds of weapons, and the occupation deliberately targeted the intensive care unit by firing at it clearly,” Abu Safiya said, noting that the fires were extinguished using only blankets and the limited drinking water left in the hospital.
The ICU, the only one in northern Gaza, is now completely out of service.
Israel’s violence also stole the life of Dr Said Joudah, the last remaining orthopaedic surgeon in the region. Despite having sustained injuries himself, Dr Joudah continued to travel between Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda Hospitals to treat the wounded. Tragically, an Israeli drone strike fatally targeted him. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, his death brought the total number of healthcare workers martyred to 1,057 since the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza. The ministry also reported a devastating toll of 45,000 martyrs and over 106,000 injured since October of last year.
Before bombs are dropped on hospitals or homes, there’s a process of dehumanisation that lays the groundwork, painting Palestinians as undeserving of dignity or protection. This process makes their suffering easier to ignore, as they are reduced to mere numbers or dismissed as “collateral damage” or “human shields”, stripping them of individuality. Children become “minors”, murdered civilians are referred to as having “died” and massacres are labelled as “chaotic scenes”. This deliberate erosion of humanity, perpetuated by media framing and selective language, anaesthetises the global psyche, numbing it to Israel’s ongoing military onslaught.
The media’s systematic misreporting reinforces the invisibility of Palestinian suffering while amplifying Israeli narratives, legitimising the atrocities under the guise of “defence” or “military operations”.
In Gaza, where the highest number of paediatric amputees is recorded, the scale of devastation has reached unimaginable proportions. Each new tragedy, a child who loses their limbs, another who dies in an airstrike, becomes part of an ever-expanding list of horrors. What was once unthinkable is now seen as routine, as the international community’s outrage wanes with each passing day.
Israel’s strike on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital shocked the world, and for a brief moment, there was global condemnation and talk of accountability. Yet, less than a year later, dozens of other hospitals, United Nations shelters and universities have been bombed. Kamal Adwan Hospital, already strained by water shortages after Israeli attacks on its water tanks, suffered continued shelling and even attacks from exploding robots and the fire in its ICU, which forced the evacuation of patients as the hospital struggled to continue its work.
Dr Abu Safiya described the scene as “catastrophic and dangerous”. He appealed for global intervention, noting that the healthcare system in Gaza has been pleading for protection for months without any response. The hospital faces daily attacks, including strikes on its generators, water tanks and oxygen network, leaving it in a precarious state and unable to serve the growing number of wounded arriving each day.
These attacks on medical facilities are a blatant violation of international law, which protects hospitals and medical personnel under the Geneva Conventions. Yet, these war crimes have gone unpunished. Israel continues to justify its actions under the banner of “self-defence,” while the global community, particularly Western powers, remains complicit through inaction.
Israel’s actions are shielded by an exceptionalism narrative that grants the state immunity from accountability. While it demands global recognition of its “right to self-defence”, it simultaneously denies Palestinians the right to a body, a home, a life. This duality extends to its self-investigative mechanisms, which consistently exonerate the military from allegations of wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the international response to Palestinian resistance, whether violent or non-violent, is delegitimised. Boycotts are branded offensive; peaceful protests are vilified. Even pleas for medical evacuations for injured children, such as Ahmed, the four-year-old amputee now receiving care in Italy after being denied entry to the UK, are dismissed.
The relentless assault on Gaza’s healthcare system is not just a Palestinian crisis, it is a global one. Targeting hospitals and civilians constitutes a rupture of international law, a breakdown of the principles that underpin any semblance of world order. As such violations have been going unchallenged, they’ve set a precedent for impunity, eroding the very foundation of human rights and justice.
The cost of dehumanisation is not borne solely by its victims. While Palestinians endure the unimaginable – burying their children, losing their homes and surviving under perpetual siege – those who engage in or enable dehumanisation suffer the slow erosion of their own humanity.
As Gaza’s hospitals burn and its children clutch their dolls beneath the rubble, the world’s silence grows louder. Culprits of genocide like Benjamin Netanyahu receive standing ovations from Western parliaments, while war crimes mount unchecked. Each passing day narrows the window for accountability and with it, the chance to reclaim a moral compass recognising every human life as sacred.
The normalisation of Israel’s attacks on hospitals in Gaza must end. The global community cannot afford to look away.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
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