Gaza- In a new escalation of the humanitarian crisis in the northern Gaza Strip, Kamal Adwan Hospital is under intense Israeli pressure to evacuate it, as part of the campaign launched by the occupation army in the region for about 77 days.
The hospital is a lifeline for tens of thousands of civilians who remained in the northern Gaza Strip, and is currently facing the risk of stopping providing its medical services, amid direct military targeting and the threat of transferring patients to another hospital.
The hospital director, Doctor Hossam Abu Safiya, said that the occupation began a new attack on the hospital yesterday evening, Saturday, with all types of weapons, demanding its evacuation.
Abu Safiya added to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “I am talking to you, and the Quadcopter planes, from the morning until now, have hardly left the skies of Kamal Adwan Hospital, and are dropping bombs around the clock. They targeted the electricity generator, causing a fire in it, and dropping bombs directly on its fuel tank.”
Evacuation orders
Doctor Abu Safiya stated that he received a report from the occupation ordering him to evacuate the hospital within the coming hours. He explained that this was accompanied by the occupation attacking the hospital without prior warning using various types of weapons, targeting all departments, especially intensive care, nursery and maternity.
He pointed out that evacuating the hospital would be a “disaster”, as it is the only one providing health services in the northern Gaza Strip. He said that the hospital provides services to 66 patients, and “it is impossible to transport them under the current circumstances, because there are no ambulances or secure roads.”
He added, “We do not know where we can transfer our patients, but it is possible that the Indonesian hospital is an alternative. However, transferring patients to it and providing resources is not an easy matter,” as he stated that the Indonesian hospital is not fit to operate, because the electricity generators and oxygen station in it were broken.
The Indonesian Hospital is approximately 3 kilometers away from Kamal Adwan, and the occupation had previously taken it out of service at the beginning of its aggression against the northern Gaza Strip.
Doctor Abu Safiya held the “international community” responsible for the crimes of the occupation, calling for urgent international intervention to force the occupation to abandon its decision to evacuate the hospital and transfer it.
Deliberate targeting
Doctor Muhammad Brik recounts the details of the aggression that the intensive care department was subjected to, saying that last night and Sunday morning were “extremely cruel,” as the department was directly targeted, to the point that fires broke out inside the department as a result of the bombing.
Brik explained, in his interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, that the intensive care department was crowded with patients during the bombing, noting that it is the only one providing intensive medical care for those suffering from serious health conditions in the northern Gaza Strip.
He says, “There is no justification for targeting intensive care, as the patients there are on ventilators, and they do not pose a danger to anyone.”
In the same context, journalist Islam Ahmed, who is inside the hospital, reveals some aspects of the tragedy they are experiencing. He told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “Yesterday, a girl named Amna Al-Mufti went out to the hospital yard to fill a bottle of water. She was targeted by a reconnaissance missile and was killed immediately.”
He added, “Also, bodies are dumped in the streets surrounding the hospital, because the occupation targets everyone who moves.” He also revealed that a group of citizens went two days ago to bury a martyr who arrived at the hospital, and were targeted after burying him. Two of them were martyred and a third was injured.
He also pointed out that the repeated targeting of the hospital during the recent period led to the disruption of the water network, the oxygen unit, and the electricity generators.
Patients’ conditions
Regarding evacuating the hospital and transferring patients to the Indonesian hospital, journalist Islam said that this is considered a “disastrous” matter due to the latter’s lack of medical work capabilities, as it is without operating rooms, an oxygen station, and electricity generators, in addition to the difficulty of transporting patients without ambulances, and securing roads for them, in The occupation continued to target everything that moved in the northern Gaza Strip.
Regarding the conditions of the patients inside the hospital, Islam said that their number reached 66 people, and they suffer from extremely poor health and living conditions, adding, “There are no medicines, medical consumables, or specialized doctors available to perform surgeries.”
He continued, explaining, “Some patients’ wounds rotted, and their limbs were amputated because there were no specialized surgeons, and some patients died because there were no specialists in some fields, such as the brain and nerves. The occupation also arrested a number of them during its first invasion of the north in October 2023,” and he pointed out that The lack of medicines and food greatly delays the recovery of patients.
In response to Tel Aviv Tribune Net’s question about how medicines and medical supplies arrive at the hospital, the journalist replied that “food, water and medicine supplies come through the World Health Organization via ambulances, but they are very few and are only sufficient for several days.” He stated that the occupation soldiers confiscate some of these food supplies. And medicines at the checkpoints leading to the hospital.
In this regard, he says, “There are some doctors, like Hani Badran and Nihad Ghoneim, who received the news of the loss of their families as a result of the occupation’s crimes while they were at work.” He also touched on the incident of the martyrdom of Dr. Saeed Joudeh, who was the last orthopedic specialist in the northern Gaza Strip, when a bullet fatally struck him in the head. His head led to his immediate martyrdom, on December 13 of this year.
In turn, journalist Mohamed Al-Sharif, who is inside the hospital, describes the conditions inside as catastrophic, and says, “The living conditions are very difficult, and people here face the risk of death, thirst, and hunger.”
Regarding what happened yesterday evening and this morning, Al-Sharif told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “Since yesterday until now, the army has besieged the hospital and is targeting everyone who goes out or moves, in addition to the artillery shelling still continuing, and the shooting continues until these moments, and the drones are dropping bombs on The hospital, its courtyards and departments, which led to massive destruction inside the corridors of Kamal Adwan.”
