The Israeli terror state invaded and burned the last hospital in northern Gaza the day before
Anger on the streets of London over Israel’s massacre at Kamal Adwan Hospital
By Charlie Kimber
Saturday 28 December 2024
Saturday 28 December 2024
SOCIALIST WORKER Issue 2936
Around 500 health workers and other Palestine campaigners gathered in central London on Saturday, 28 December. They came to show their horror and fury at the Israeli destruction and burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza the day before.
This was the last major functioning hospital in northern Gaza. Israeli troops drove people from it on Friday 27 December. Earlier airstrikes around Kamal Adwan had killed dozens of people.
Hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, now held as a prisoner, said Israel had slaughtered about 50 people. The massacre is the mark of an army that is set on wiping out all human life in an area.
“It feels like the media aren’t interested any more and politicians are content to enable a continuing genocide,” London nurse Lubna told Socialist Worker on Saturday’s protest.
“I don’t have much time off over the holidays. But I can’t sit at home while the Israelis are ethnically cleansing Gaza and actually stepping up their murders.”
The protest was advertised as a vigil and there was deep sorrow at the appalling suffering. But there was also righteous anger.
Doctor Asad told Socialist Worker, “The Israelis did this, but I hold Keir Starmer, Joe Biden and all the politicians responsible. Unless they have worked to stop all arms to Israel, I say they are to blame for every death and for the murder of children.”
Student Michael said, “This level of destruction is treated as normal it seems. We can’t allow this to fade into a background of ‘acceptable mass murder’.”
Almost 450 days since the genocide began, the Kamal Adwan horrors are still shocking.
Ismail al-Kahlout, a nurse who was working at the hospital, told Al Jazeera news that the Israeli military detained staff and patients. Soldiers stripped many of them naked in the cold. The Zionist forces beat people, including those who were wounded or sick.
When women refused orders to lift their clothing for inspection, Israeli soldiers slapped them in the face.
“We were not allowed to go to the toilets. We live in humiliation. We are exhausted. We are tired. Enough is enough,” al-Kahlout said.
Israeli forces go on offensive in Gaza with Western backing
Ezzat Ramadan, who was staying at the hospital, said he walked around for two hours in the cold with few clothes on. He then reached the place where he and others were interrogated.
“They took photos of all of us. They spat on us. They humiliated us,” he said. “Before releasing us, they put a number on everyone’s chest and back.”
Shorouk al-Rantisi, a hospital staff member, said Israeli soldiers tied them up and blindfolded them. “We could hear people screaming but we could not know who exactly was being beaten,” she said. “I was waiting for my time to be beaten as well.”
The Times of Israel newspaper reported on Saturday that Israel has “vastly expanded” a military corridor cutting Gaza in half. This suggests it intends to occupy the area indefinitely.
The corridor now covers almost 50 square kilometres—18 square miles—roughly 13 percent of the area of the Gaza Strip. It has more than a dozen military outposts, the report said. These bases “featured everything one would expect at a well-entrenched position for troops to remain indefinitely except that nothing seemed to be permanently attached to the ground”.
Health Workers 4 Palestine and the Palestinian Forum in Britain called the London protest. It demanded “an end to aggression, urgent medical aid, treatment for Gaza’s wounded, accountability for war crimes and for people to raise our voices against this brutal genocide”.
Around 500 health workers and other Palestine campaigners gathered in central London on Saturday, 28 December. They came to show their horror and fury at the Israeli destruction and burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza the day before.
This was the last major functioning hospital in northern Gaza. Israeli troops drove people from it on Friday 27 December. Earlier airstrikes around Kamal Adwan had killed dozens of people.
Hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, now held as a prisoner, said Israel had slaughtered about 50 people. The massacre is the mark of an army that is set on wiping out all human life in an area.
“It feels like the media aren’t interested any more and politicians are content to enable a continuing genocide,” London nurse Lubna told Socialist Worker on Saturday’s protest.
“I don’t have much time off over the holidays. But I can’t sit at home while the Israelis are ethnically cleansing Gaza and actually stepping up their murders.”
The protest was advertised as a vigil and there was deep sorrow at the appalling suffering. But there was also righteous anger.
Doctor Asad told Socialist Worker, “The Israelis did this, but I hold Keir Starmer, Joe Biden and all the politicians responsible. Unless they have worked to stop all arms to Israel, I say they are to blame for every death and for the murder of children.”
Student Michael said, “This level of destruction is treated as normal it seems. We can’t allow this to fade into a background of ‘acceptable mass murder’.”
Almost 450 days since the genocide began, the Kamal Adwan horrors are still shocking.
Ismail al-Kahlout, a nurse who was working at the hospital, told Al Jazeera news that the Israeli military detained staff and patients. Soldiers stripped many of them naked in the cold. The Zionist forces beat people, including those who were wounded or sick.
When women refused orders to lift their clothing for inspection, Israeli soldiers slapped them in the face.
“We were not allowed to go to the toilets. We live in humiliation. We are exhausted. We are tired. Enough is enough,” al-Kahlout said.
Israeli forces go on offensive in Gaza with Western backing
Ezzat Ramadan, who was staying at the hospital, said he walked around for two hours in the cold with few clothes on. He then reached the place where he and others were interrogated.
“They took photos of all of us. They spat on us. They humiliated us,” he said. “Before releasing us, they put a number on everyone’s chest and back.”
Shorouk al-Rantisi, a hospital staff member, said Israeli soldiers tied them up and blindfolded them. “We could hear people screaming but we could not know who exactly was being beaten,” she said. “I was waiting for my time to be beaten as well.”
The Times of Israel newspaper reported on Saturday that Israel has “vastly expanded” a military corridor cutting Gaza in half. This suggests it intends to occupy the area indefinitely.
The corridor now covers almost 50 square kilometres—18 square miles—roughly 13 percent of the area of the Gaza Strip. It has more than a dozen military outposts, the report said. These bases “featured everything one would expect at a well-entrenched position for troops to remain indefinitely except that nothing seemed to be permanently attached to the ground”.
Health Workers 4 Palestine and the Palestinian Forum in Britain called the London protest. It demanded “an end to aggression, urgent medical aid, treatment for Gaza’s wounded, accountability for war crimes and for people to raise our voices against this brutal genocide”.
Israel detains 240 Palestinians including medics after Gaza hospital raid
Palestinians have left their homes and taken shelter in Deir al-Balah city, Gaza, December 27, 2024. /CFP
Much of northern Gaza razed and emptied by Israel forces
In the past few months, Israeli forces have pushed people out and razed much of the area around the northern Gaza towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing by depopulating those areas to create a buffer zone. Israel denies it is doing this, saying it aims to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping in the areas.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun operating overnight against targets in the Beit Hanoun area, adding that "troops are enabling civilians still in the area to move away for their own safety."
It then ordered residents to leave and head towards southern parts of the Strip, saying rockets had been fired from the area.
It said two rockets fired from north Gaza, including one towards Jerusalem, had been intercepted.
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 has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
The conflict was triggered by Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
(With input from Reuters)
29-Dec-2024
CGTN
Smoke and fire rise from the Kamal Adwan Hospital following an Israeli air strike, Beit Lahiya, Gaza, December 26, 2024. /CFP
Israeli forces have detained more than 240 Palestinians including dozens of medical staff from a north Gaza hospital they raided on Friday, including its director, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave and Israel's military.
The Health Ministry said it was concerned for the well-being of Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, as some staff freed by the Israeli military late on Friday said he had been beaten up by soldiers.
The Israeli military said the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas military operations and those arrested were suspected militants. It said Abu Safiya had been taken for questioning as he was suspected of being a Hamas operative.
On Friday, Hamas dismissed Israel's assertion that its fighters had operated from the hospital throughout the 15-month-old Gaza conflict, saying no fighters had been in the hospital. The group has not yet commented on the 240 arrests.
In its statement on Saturday, Hamas urged the UN and relevant international agencies to intervene urgently to protect the remaining hospitals and medical facilities in northern Gaza and supply them.
The group also called for UN observers to be sent to medical facilities in Gaza to refute the Israeli allegations that they were being used for military purposes.
Palestinian patients are transferred to al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after being evacuated from Kamal Adwan Hospital, Gaza, December 28, 2024. /CFP
WHO 'appalled' by Israeli raid
The raid on the hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, put the last major health facility in the area out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X.
"WHO is appalled by yesterday's raid. The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on North Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk," it said.
Some patients were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to the Indonesian Hospital, which is not in service, and medics were prevented from joining them there, the Health Ministry said. Other patients and staff were taken to other medical facilities.
The Israeli military said 350 patients and medical personnel had been evacuated prior to the Kamal Adwan operation, while another 95 had been evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital during the operation, in coordination with local health authorities.
Separately, the Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli strikes across the enclave had killed 18 Palestinians on Saturday, at least nine of them in a house in Maghazi camp in central Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes and fatalities.
CGTN
Smoke and fire rise from the Kamal Adwan Hospital following an Israeli air strike, Beit Lahiya, Gaza, December 26, 2024. /CFP
Israeli forces have detained more than 240 Palestinians including dozens of medical staff from a north Gaza hospital they raided on Friday, including its director, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave and Israel's military.
The Health Ministry said it was concerned for the well-being of Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, as some staff freed by the Israeli military late on Friday said he had been beaten up by soldiers.
The Israeli military said the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas military operations and those arrested were suspected militants. It said Abu Safiya had been taken for questioning as he was suspected of being a Hamas operative.
On Friday, Hamas dismissed Israel's assertion that its fighters had operated from the hospital throughout the 15-month-old Gaza conflict, saying no fighters had been in the hospital. The group has not yet commented on the 240 arrests.
In its statement on Saturday, Hamas urged the UN and relevant international agencies to intervene urgently to protect the remaining hospitals and medical facilities in northern Gaza and supply them.
The group also called for UN observers to be sent to medical facilities in Gaza to refute the Israeli allegations that they were being used for military purposes.
Palestinian patients are transferred to al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after being evacuated from Kamal Adwan Hospital, Gaza, December 28, 2024. /CFP
WHO 'appalled' by Israeli raid
The raid on the hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, put the last major health facility in the area out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X.
"WHO is appalled by yesterday's raid. The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on North Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk," it said.
Some patients were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to the Indonesian Hospital, which is not in service, and medics were prevented from joining them there, the Health Ministry said. Other patients and staff were taken to other medical facilities.
The Israeli military said 350 patients and medical personnel had been evacuated prior to the Kamal Adwan operation, while another 95 had been evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital during the operation, in coordination with local health authorities.
Separately, the Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli strikes across the enclave had killed 18 Palestinians on Saturday, at least nine of them in a house in Maghazi camp in central Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes and fatalities.
Palestinians have left their homes and taken shelter in Deir al-Balah city, Gaza, December 27, 2024. /CFP
Much of northern Gaza razed and emptied by Israel forces
In the past few months, Israeli forces have pushed people out and razed much of the area around the northern Gaza towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing by depopulating those areas to create a buffer zone. Israel denies it is doing this, saying it aims to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping in the areas.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun operating overnight against targets in the Beit Hanoun area, adding that "troops are enabling civilians still in the area to move away for their own safety."
It then ordered residents to leave and head towards southern parts of the Strip, saying rockets had been fired from the area.
It said two rockets fired from north Gaza, including one towards Jerusalem, had been intercepted.
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 has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
The conflict was triggered by Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
(With input from Reuters)
Gaza hospital shut after Israeli raid, director held: health officials
By AFP
December 28, 2024
Copyright AFP Omar AL-QATTAA
An Israeli military raid targeting Hamas militants has forced a major hospital in northern Gaza out of service and led to the detention of its director, the WHO and health officials said Saturday.
The assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital has rendered the facility “useless”, further worsening Gaza’s severe health crisis, the Palestinian territory’s health officials said.
“This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in north Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid,” the World Health Organization said overnight on X, referring to the Israeli operation that began in the early hours of Friday.
The WHO said 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including some on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital.
Patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed, non-functioning Indonesian Hospital, the UN health agency said, adding it was “deeply concerned for their safety”.
Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry reported that Israeli forces detained Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, along with several medical staff members.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Abu Safiyeh was held alongside its north Gaza chief, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout.
The Israeli military did not comment on the detentions.
Ammar al-Barsh, a resident of Jabalia where the military has focused its assault in recent weeks, said the raid on Kamal Adwan and its environs had left dozens of homes in the area in ruins.
“The situation is catastrophic, there is no medical service, no ambulances and no civil defence in the north,” Barsh, 50, told AFP.
The army “continues to raid the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the surrounding houses, and we hear gunfire from Israeli drones and artillery shelling”, he added.
– ‘Heinous crime’ –
In the days leading up to the raid, Abu Safiyeh had repeatedly warned about the hospital’s precarious situation, accusing Israeli forces of targeting the facility.
On Monday, he issued a statement accusing Israel of targeting the hospital “with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside”.
On Thursday, Abu Safiyeh said five staff members of the hospital had been killed in an Israeli strike near the facility.
Since October 6, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in northern Gaza, saying its goal is to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
The military said Friday that it was acting on intelligence regarding “terrorist infrastructure and operatives” in the hospital’s vicinity.
Before initiating the latest operation near the hospital, the military said its troops had “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel”.
Hamas has denied claims its operatives were present at the hospital, accusing Israeli forces of storming it on Friday.
“The enemy’s lies about the hospital aim to justify the heinous crime committed by the occupation army today, involving the evacuation and burning of all hospital departments as part of a plan for extermination and forced displacement,” Hamas said in a statement.
Gaza’s health ministry had earlier quoted Abu Safiyeh reporting that the military had “set on fire all surgery departments of the hospital”.
Abu Safiyeh said the military had also “evacuated the entire medical staff and displaced people”.
“There are a large number of injuries among the medical team.”
– ‘Death sentence’ –
Iran, which backs Hamas, “strongly condemned the brutal attack”, with a foreign ministry statement calling it “the latest example of war crimes, crimes against humanity, (and) gross violations of international law and norms”.
The Israeli military has regularly accused Hamas of using hospitals as command and control centres for attacks against its forces throughout the war.
Hamas has denied the accusations.
The WHO reiterated its call for a ceasefire.
“This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for WHO and partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October,” the WHO said.
“Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal functional. The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care.”
Meanwhile, Hamas’s media centre reported “massive Israeli air and artillery strikes in Beit Hanoun”, in northern Gaza .
The Israeli military says it has killed hundreds of militants since the stepped-up assault in northern Gaza began on October 6, while rescuers in the area say thousands of civilians have died in the sweeping offensive.
Gaza civil defence also reported that in a separate Israeli strike in central Gaza at least nine Palestinians were killed on Saturday.
The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel last year, which resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 45,436 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
By AFP
December 28, 2024
Copyright AFP Omar AL-QATTAA
An Israeli military raid targeting Hamas militants has forced a major hospital in northern Gaza out of service and led to the detention of its director, the WHO and health officials said Saturday.
The assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital has rendered the facility “useless”, further worsening Gaza’s severe health crisis, the Palestinian territory’s health officials said.
“This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in north Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid,” the World Health Organization said overnight on X, referring to the Israeli operation that began in the early hours of Friday.
The WHO said 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including some on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital.
Patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed, non-functioning Indonesian Hospital, the UN health agency said, adding it was “deeply concerned for their safety”.
Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry reported that Israeli forces detained Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, along with several medical staff members.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Abu Safiyeh was held alongside its north Gaza chief, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout.
The Israeli military did not comment on the detentions.
Ammar al-Barsh, a resident of Jabalia where the military has focused its assault in recent weeks, said the raid on Kamal Adwan and its environs had left dozens of homes in the area in ruins.
“The situation is catastrophic, there is no medical service, no ambulances and no civil defence in the north,” Barsh, 50, told AFP.
The army “continues to raid the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the surrounding houses, and we hear gunfire from Israeli drones and artillery shelling”, he added.
– ‘Heinous crime’ –
In the days leading up to the raid, Abu Safiyeh had repeatedly warned about the hospital’s precarious situation, accusing Israeli forces of targeting the facility.
On Monday, he issued a statement accusing Israel of targeting the hospital “with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside”.
On Thursday, Abu Safiyeh said five staff members of the hospital had been killed in an Israeli strike near the facility.
Since October 6, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in northern Gaza, saying its goal is to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
The military said Friday that it was acting on intelligence regarding “terrorist infrastructure and operatives” in the hospital’s vicinity.
Before initiating the latest operation near the hospital, the military said its troops had “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel”.
Hamas has denied claims its operatives were present at the hospital, accusing Israeli forces of storming it on Friday.
“The enemy’s lies about the hospital aim to justify the heinous crime committed by the occupation army today, involving the evacuation and burning of all hospital departments as part of a plan for extermination and forced displacement,” Hamas said in a statement.
Gaza’s health ministry had earlier quoted Abu Safiyeh reporting that the military had “set on fire all surgery departments of the hospital”.
Abu Safiyeh said the military had also “evacuated the entire medical staff and displaced people”.
“There are a large number of injuries among the medical team.”
– ‘Death sentence’ –
Iran, which backs Hamas, “strongly condemned the brutal attack”, with a foreign ministry statement calling it “the latest example of war crimes, crimes against humanity, (and) gross violations of international law and norms”.
The Israeli military has regularly accused Hamas of using hospitals as command and control centres for attacks against its forces throughout the war.
Hamas has denied the accusations.
The WHO reiterated its call for a ceasefire.
“This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for WHO and partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October,” the WHO said.
“Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal functional. The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care.”
Meanwhile, Hamas’s media centre reported “massive Israeli air and artillery strikes in Beit Hanoun”, in northern Gaza .
The Israeli military says it has killed hundreds of militants since the stepped-up assault in northern Gaza began on October 6, while rescuers in the area say thousands of civilians have died in the sweeping offensive.
Gaza civil defence also reported that in a separate Israeli strike in central Gaza at least nine Palestinians were killed on Saturday.
The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel last year, which resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 45,436 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Israel army says ends raid against ‘Hamas centre’ in north Gaza hospital
By AFP
December 28, 2024
Ambulances transport wounded Palestinians from Kamal Adwan Hospital to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City - Copyright AFP Omar AL-QATTAA
Israel’s military said on Saturday it had ended its raid on “a Hamas command centre” in a north Gaza hospital and detained its director as a suspected Hamas operative.
Since October 6, Israeli operations in the Palestinian territory have concentrated on the north, where they are carrying out a land and air offensive they say aims to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
As part of its offensive, the military launched a raid early Friday on northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, which had been one of the area’s two remaining functional medical facilities.
“The IDF (military) and ISA (security agency) completed a targeted operation against a Hamas command centre in the Kamal Adwan Hospital… the forces apprehended over 240 terrorists in the area,” the military said in a statement.
It added that the hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, suspected of “being a Hamas terrorist operative”, had been detained for questioning.
The military said the hospital was being used by “terrorists… for military operations in Jabalia”.
Hamas dismissed as “lies” Israeli allegations that its operatives were at the hospital.
“At the beginning of the targeted operation, the 401st Brigade encircled the Kamal Adwan Hospital and apprehended terrorists who were hiding in the area and eliminated additional terrorists,” the military said.
Israeli special forces then conducted “precise activities” inside the hospital and located and confiscated weapons including grenades, guns, munitions and military equipment, it said.
During the raid, next to the hospital, “terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and RPGs (rocket-propelled-grenades) at the troops and attempted to carry out additional attacks against the troops”, it said, adding that troops “eliminated” the assailants.
– ‘Over 240 terrorists detained’ –
Later on Saturday in an online media briefing, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said there were a “lot of explosives” around the hospital.
“The amount of terrorists is what we were expecting. We weren’t expecting to find a weapon storage with thousands of guns,” he said.
“That’s not the type of target this was. This was a command and control centre that we understood was for many dozens of terrorists or a few hundreds.”
The military said that during the operation, “over 240 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists and other operatives suspected of terror activities were apprehended, some of whom attempted to pose as patients or flee using ambulances”.
Apart from detaining Abu Safiyeh, who is being questioned in Gaza, the military said it also detained “Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives and approximately 15 terrorists who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th massacre”.
“Either they admitted or we were able to cross-reference with other intelligence we have,” Shoshani said, referring to those arrested.
“When I talk about the hospital director, he is a suspect,” Shoshani added.
Before launching the raid, the military said it helped to evacuate 350 patients, caregivers and medical staff from the hospital.
It said that during the operation, an additional 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital in coordination with local health officials.
“Kamal Adwan is now empty,” the World Health Organization said, adding it was “appalled” by the raid, the latest against a hospital during the war.
By AFP
December 28, 2024
Ambulances transport wounded Palestinians from Kamal Adwan Hospital to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City - Copyright AFP Omar AL-QATTAA
Israel’s military said on Saturday it had ended its raid on “a Hamas command centre” in a north Gaza hospital and detained its director as a suspected Hamas operative.
Since October 6, Israeli operations in the Palestinian territory have concentrated on the north, where they are carrying out a land and air offensive they say aims to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
As part of its offensive, the military launched a raid early Friday on northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, which had been one of the area’s two remaining functional medical facilities.
“The IDF (military) and ISA (security agency) completed a targeted operation against a Hamas command centre in the Kamal Adwan Hospital… the forces apprehended over 240 terrorists in the area,” the military said in a statement.
It added that the hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, suspected of “being a Hamas terrorist operative”, had been detained for questioning.
The military said the hospital was being used by “terrorists… for military operations in Jabalia”.
Hamas dismissed as “lies” Israeli allegations that its operatives were at the hospital.
“At the beginning of the targeted operation, the 401st Brigade encircled the Kamal Adwan Hospital and apprehended terrorists who were hiding in the area and eliminated additional terrorists,” the military said.
Israeli special forces then conducted “precise activities” inside the hospital and located and confiscated weapons including grenades, guns, munitions and military equipment, it said.
During the raid, next to the hospital, “terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and RPGs (rocket-propelled-grenades) at the troops and attempted to carry out additional attacks against the troops”, it said, adding that troops “eliminated” the assailants.
– ‘Over 240 terrorists detained’ –
Later on Saturday in an online media briefing, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said there were a “lot of explosives” around the hospital.
“The amount of terrorists is what we were expecting. We weren’t expecting to find a weapon storage with thousands of guns,” he said.
“That’s not the type of target this was. This was a command and control centre that we understood was for many dozens of terrorists or a few hundreds.”
The military said that during the operation, “over 240 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists and other operatives suspected of terror activities were apprehended, some of whom attempted to pose as patients or flee using ambulances”.
Apart from detaining Abu Safiyeh, who is being questioned in Gaza, the military said it also detained “Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives and approximately 15 terrorists who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th massacre”.
“Either they admitted or we were able to cross-reference with other intelligence we have,” Shoshani said, referring to those arrested.
“When I talk about the hospital director, he is a suspect,” Shoshani added.
Before launching the raid, the military said it helped to evacuate 350 patients, caregivers and medical staff from the hospital.
It said that during the operation, an additional 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital in coordination with local health officials.
“Kamal Adwan is now empty,” the World Health Organization said, adding it was “appalled” by the raid, the latest against a hospital during the war.
Palestinian Health Ministry slams Israeli army for moving patients to destroyed Indonesian Hospital
MEMO
December 28, 2024
Palestinian patients are transferred to al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after being evacuated from Kamal Adwan Hospital since the Israeli forces set fire to some parts of the hospital during the raid in Gaza City, Gaza on December 28, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza warned on Saturday about dire conditions faced by patients forcibly evacuated under Israeli military orders from Kamal Adwan Hospital to the Indonesian Hospital, which had already suffered severe damage from earlier Israeli air strikes, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a statement, the ministry said: “A harrowing night has passed for the forcibly evacuated patients, who are now in critical conditions at the Indonesian Hospital without access to water, electricity, food, or medical supplies.”
The ministry emphasized that “the countdown to losing their lives has begun, as most of the Kamal Adwan medical staff have been detained by Israeli forces.”
It noted that the Israeli army had destroyed the Indonesian Hospital’s infrastructure before forcing the transfer of patients there.
The Health Ministry called on international organizations to intervene urgently to address the patients’ critical needs.
On Friday, Israeli forces removed patients and medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital at gunpoint and transferred them to the damaged Indonesian Hospital.
The attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital resulted in the loss of the last fully functioning medical facility in northern Gaza.
Israel’s offensive has killed nearly 45,500 people in Gaza since a cross-border Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, reducing the enclave to rubble.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Additionally, Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the enclave.
MEMO
December 28, 2024
Palestinian patients are transferred to al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after being evacuated from Kamal Adwan Hospital since the Israeli forces set fire to some parts of the hospital during the raid in Gaza City, Gaza on December 28, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza warned on Saturday about dire conditions faced by patients forcibly evacuated under Israeli military orders from Kamal Adwan Hospital to the Indonesian Hospital, which had already suffered severe damage from earlier Israeli air strikes, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a statement, the ministry said: “A harrowing night has passed for the forcibly evacuated patients, who are now in critical conditions at the Indonesian Hospital without access to water, electricity, food, or medical supplies.”
The ministry emphasized that “the countdown to losing their lives has begun, as most of the Kamal Adwan medical staff have been detained by Israeli forces.”
It noted that the Israeli army had destroyed the Indonesian Hospital’s infrastructure before forcing the transfer of patients there.
The Health Ministry called on international organizations to intervene urgently to address the patients’ critical needs.
On Friday, Israeli forces removed patients and medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital at gunpoint and transferred them to the damaged Indonesian Hospital.
The attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital resulted in the loss of the last fully functioning medical facility in northern Gaza.
Israel’s offensive has killed nearly 45,500 people in Gaza since a cross-border Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, reducing the enclave to rubble.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Additionally, Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the enclave.
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