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An Israeli military attack on a hospital in Gaza halted services at the last major medical facility in the northern part of the besieged strip, exacerbating a deepening humanitarian crisis in the enclave, the U.N. health agency said.
The attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes as Israel intensifies its offensive in northern Gaza that began in October and has killed hundreds of people and forced tens of thousands to flee.
The Israeli military says it is trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping in northern Gaza, where most of the population has been forced to flee during Israel’s 14-month offensive against the Palestinian militant group.
The World Health Organization said initial reports showed that key parts of the health facility were severely burned and damaged in Friday’s raid.
The report stated that 60 health workers and 25 critically ill patients (including those on respirators) remained at the hospital, while others were forced to evacuate to another damaged hospital.
“The systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health system is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care,” the WHO said in a statement late Friday. “This terror must end and health care Must be protected.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Kamal Adwan’s operations and surgery department, laboratories, maintenance, ambulances and warehouses were “completely burned”.
“The occupying forces are forcibly transferring the sick and wounded at gunpoint… Indonesian hospitals lack medical supplies, water, medicine, and even electricity and generators. “Due to the harsh conditions, some patients face death threats at any time. “
The Israeli military said it began operations in the Kamal Adwan “area” after receiving intelligence that Hamas militants were using the hospital.
It added that its forces “are conducting targeted operations in the area while mitigating harm to civilians, patients and medical personnel not involved in the incident”. It said its forces were not responsible for the hospital fire.
Hamas denies that its militants use the hospital for military activities.
United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations have repeatedly condemned Israeli attacks on medical facilities in Gaza since the Israeli offensive against the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people.
The World Health Organization said it had verified 516 attacks on medical facilities and medical transport facilities in the Gaza Strip, adding that more than 90 percent of medical facilities in the Gaza Strip had been damaged or destroyed.
Israel’s offensive in northern Gaza continues as mediators push for a deal to end the war and secure the release of remaining Israeli hostages in the Strip before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next month.
The operation reduced Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp before the war, to rubble, housing more than 100,000 people, and expanded to neighboring Beit Lahia, where Kamal Kamal Adwan Hospital.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said its forces had begun operations in the Beit Hanoun area.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 45,000 people and forced the vast majority of the strip’s 2.3 million people from their homes, according to Palestinian health officials.
