Israeli forces raided a hospital in northern Gaza, the Ministry of Health says communication with staff has been lost Reuters
Written by Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan hospital, one of only three medical facilities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, ordering dozens of patients and hundreds of others to leave the area, officials said.
In separate incidents across Gaza, Israeli strikes have killed at least 25 people, health officials said. One of those strikes on a house in Gaza City killed 15 people, health officials said.
The Palestinian health ministry said communication with workers inside the facility, which had been under heavy pressure from Israeli forces for weeks, had been lost.
“The soldiers are inside the hospital now and they are burning it,” Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health department in Hamas-run Gaza, said in a statement.
The Israeli military said it had made efforts to minimize civilian casualties and “facilitate the safe evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel before surgery” but did not provide details.
“Kamal Adwan Hospital serves as a base for Hamas terrorists in northern Gaza, where terrorists have been operating throughout the war,” the statement said.
Kamal Adwan, as well as the Indonesian and Al-Awda hospitals, have been repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces, who have been clearing the northern edge of the Gaza Strip for weeks, said Palestinian doctors.
Friday’s attack comes a day after soldiers evacuated a nearby Indonesian hospital and continued to pressurize Al-Awda Hospital.
Bursh said the soldiers ordered the 350 people who were inside the center to go to a nearby school and shelter the families who were left homeless. They included 75 patients, their friends, and 185 medical staff.
Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Television said that hours after the raid, Israeli forces set fire to the hospital. Pictures circulated by Palestinian and Arab media, which Reuters could not immediately confirm, showed smoke rising from the hospital grounds.
There was no comment from the Israeli military.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya has been depopulated and systematically destroyed, leading to speculation that Israel intends to keep the area as a closed zone after the end of the war in Gaza.
Israel denies the allegations saying its mission is to prevent Hamas terrorists from congregating.
On Thursday, health officials said five medical workers, including a pediatrician, were killed by Israeli fire at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, where Israeli soldiers have been operating since October.
In a statement, Hamas held Israel and the United States responsible for the fate of patients, wounded people and medical workers inside the hospital.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the area. Most of the 2.3 million people have been displaced and most of Gaza is in ruins.
The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
