Intense fighting was reported on Monday around the Indonesian hospital in Gaza.
Israeli tanks surrounded the hospital in northern Gaza after artillery fire killed at least 12 Palestinians at the compound.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is happening at the Indonesian hospital in Gaza?
A shell hit the second floor of the Indonesian hospital, killing at least 12 people, according to medical staff at the facility and the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry, told Tel Aviv Tribune that “the situation is catastrophic.”
“Indonesian hospital staff insist they will stay to treat the injured. There are around 700 people, including medical staff and injured people, inside the hospital,” he said.
Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said it had lost contact with three Indonesian volunteers at the hospital who were part of the group that established the facility in 2016 with funding from the country.
Marwan Abdallah, a doctor at the Indonesian hospital, said Israeli tanks were operating within 200 meters (656 feet) of the hospital and Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings.
Another medical professional told Tel Aviv Tribune that the shelling was intense and indiscriminate on the hospital building, entrance and windows. According to the doctor, everyone at the hospital gathered in the center of the main building.
Where is the Indonesian hospital?
Located in Beit Lahiya, a town of around 90,000 people in northern Gaza, the hospital sits on some 16,000 square meters (172,200 square feet) of land donated by the Gaza government in 2011.
The hospital houses hundreds of displaced people who have sought asylum there. It is also close to the Jabalia refugee camp.
The area around the hospital was repeatedly struck by Israeli forces, and at least two civilians were killed in these strikes between October 7 and 28, according to Human Rights Watch.
The construction of the hospital cost nearly $8 million. It was funded by donations from Indonesian citizens in collaboration with groups such as the Indonesian Red Cross Society and the Muhammadiyah Society, one of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organizations.
What did Israel say?
Israel has long accused Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian sites to establish command posts and hide weapons.
The military has previously said it believes the Indonesian hospital was built on a Hamas tunnel system, in allegations that mirror those made by Israel against al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Al-Shifa, the main hospital in the Gaza Strip, has been in the spotlight for weeks after being bombed by Israel.
Why is Israel targeting Palestinian hospitals?
Six weeks after the start of the war on Gaza, Israeli attacks on hospitals have become almost a motive for the conflict. At least 21 of Gaza’s 35 hospitals – including the Strip’s only cancer center – are completely out of service, and others have been damaged and lack essential medicines and supplies.
Commentator Taghreed El-Khodary said Israel had “convinced” the world that al-Shifa Hospital was Hamas headquarters because it was the easiest route to invade Gaza.
“They know that it’s the safest part to go and impose a sort of military headquarters on them in Gaza City. They couldn’t come from the East. Now this is what they are doing, going to the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahiya to also impose another headquarters on them so that they can attack and kill more civilians,” El-Khodary told Tel Aviv Tribune .
According to Omar Rahman, a member of the Doha-based Middle East World Affairs Council, this is a form of psychological warfare.
“Attacking hospitals shows the population that nowhere (Palestinians) are safe,” Rahman told Tel Aviv Tribune, adding that Israel acts with “total impunity.”
Tahani Mustafa, senior Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group, said making Palestinians feel insecure in every settlement in the Gaza Strip aims to suppress any form of resistance.
“This is part of a long-standing pattern of harassment against medical staff and services, in which Israel demonstrates to Palestinians that no one or any space is safe,” Mustafa told Tel Aviv Tribune.
