In the heart of the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army is committing crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing, Kamal Adwan Hospital continues to operate with less than minimal capabilities as the last bastion of resistance in the face of the Israeli war machine.
The hospital bears the name of one of the leaders of the Palestinian revolution and one of the most prominent symbols of the Fatah movement, and it represents a last refuge for the sick and injured of the north who did not find an alternative that provided them with the minimum medical and humanitarian services.
Since the Israeli army’s attack on the North Governorate on October 5, which coincided with an applied military siege, the hospital has been subjected to dozens of attacks with missiles and fire, with a health official saying that the army is treating it as a “military target.”
Despite this, the medical staff inside the hospital, consisting of a maximum of two doctors and a small number of nurses, continued to perform their humanitarian duty. They also refused to obey the army’s multiple orders to evacuate its buildings and leave the governorate, despite the continuing crimes against them.
The town of Beit Lahia, like many other parts of the Gaza Strip, was subjected to the policy of “annihilation of cities” with its architectural and cultural fabric, through the implementation of comprehensive erasure operations and the complete destruction of homes, residential neighborhoods, and infrastructure, and the elimination of the means of survival for the Palestinians, according to a statement by the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights.
Chronological sequence
Kamal Adwan Hospital, the largest hospital in the North Governorate, which used to provide services to more than 400,000 people, is operating today amidst non-existent conditions and capabilities as a result of the Israeli targeting of it since October 2023, which Anatolia monitored as follows:
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli army has continued to launch intensive raids on the hospital’s surroundings, in addition to blowing up buildings and residential blocks next to it, resulting in damage to its buildings, as well as deaths and injuries inside or outside the hospital.
Year 2023
- October 14: An Israeli warning to evacuate the hospital of displaced persons, medical personnel, and patients.
- December 4: Israeli bombing of the northern gate of the hospital, killing 4 Palestinians.
- December 6: The Ministry of Health announces that Kamal Adwan Hospital has been taken out of service by force and “with the noses of tanks.”
- December 8: Israeli tanks besieged the hospital, army snipers occupied buildings surrounding it, and fired into the courtyards and patient rooms.
- December 12: The Israeli army stormed the hospital after a tight siege, forced about 2,500 displaced people to evacuate it two days later, and arrested a number of medical staff.
- December 16: The army withdrew from the hospital after destroying the southern part of it, displacing the displaced people inside, abusing its patients, and suppressing the medical staff.
Year 2024
- Mid-January: Work partially resumed at Kamal Adwan Hospital, according to human rights reports.
- March: Dozens of children died, some of them in Kamal Adwan Hospital, as a result of famine in the north and a lack of medical supplies and medicines.
- May 19: The hospital was again out of service after heavy Israeli bombing targeted its surroundings and army vehicles advanced towards it and besieged it for days.
- May 28: Israeli bombing of a hospital building and destroying the electricity generators inside.
- June: The hospital partially returned to work with limited medical capabilities and supplies.
- October 8: The Israeli army orders hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Kamal Adwan, to evacuate within 24 hours under siege by military vehicles.
- October 19: The Israeli army bombed the entrance to the Kamal Adwan Hospital laboratory, killing a Palestinian and wounding others.
- October 20: Israeli bombing of the hospital renewed, intense shooting targeted its buildings, and targeting its water tanks and electricity network.
- October 22: Israeli warnings renewed to evacuate the hospital.
- October 25: The Israeli army storms the hospital and detains hundreds of patients, medical staff, and displaced people who took shelter inside its buildings.
- October 26: The army withdrew from the hospital, leaving Palestinians dead and widespread destruction inside and outside, a day after it was stormed.
- October 31: The Israeli army bombed the hospital, causing the burning of medicines and medical supplies it had received from the World Health Organization a few days earlier.
- November 3: Israeli artillery shelling wounded a number of children in the hospital’s nursery section, and its electrical generators and water tanks were shot.
- November 4: Israeli bombing targeted hospital facilities and injured a number of Palestinian medical staff and patients.
- November 6: Wounded people died due to the lack of surgical specialties in the hospital, which began operating without electricity due to running out of fuel.
- November 11: An Israeli march bombed the hospital’s reception and emergency department, wounding 3 medical personnel.
- November 22: Renewed Israeli bombing of Kamal Adwan Hospital resulted in the injury of a doctor and patients, and also disabled electricity generators and the oxygen station.
- December 3: Israeli bombing of the hospital with bombs fired by “Quad Capture” drones, resulting in the injury of 3 medical staff.
- December 4: The army bombed the hospital 4 times and stopped the oxygen station, threatening the lives of the patients inside.
- December 5: The Israeli army targeted the hospital several times, killing two Palestinians, including a child, and wounding two others.
- December 6: The Israeli army stormed the hospital for hours, forced patients and medical personnel to evacuate, and arrested a number of them.
- December 7: The Israeli army targeted the hospital with a number of shells, resulting in the injury of health personnel and patients, the destruction of water, oxygen, and fuel tanks, a power outage, and the outbreak of fire in its facilities.
- December 14: Explosive robots were detonated in the vicinity of the hospital, damaging its buildings and causing panic among patients and displaced people.
- December 16: Israeli Quadcopter drones targeted the hospital’s electrical generators, causing a power outage and causing damage to the intensive care department.
- December 17: An Israeli march dropped more than 10 bombs at the hospital gate and its facilities, causing fires to break out.
- December 18: Israeli vehicles targeted the intensive care department and opened fire on it, causing it to be out of service.
Critical situations
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hossam Abu Safiya, said in a statement yesterday, Saturday, that “the hospital is facing critical conditions as the Israeli army continues to fire around it around the clock.”
He continued: “The area was bombed again yesterday, Friday, as shells fell on the third floor and the doors of the hospital. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but the bombing sparked a state of panic among the wounded and children.”
He explained, “The hospital suffers from a severe shortage of necessary supplies, as maintenance needs have not been met to ensure the continuity of electricity, water, and oxygen, despite promises that have not yet been fulfilled.”
He pointed out that the army continues to prevent the entry of “necessary medical supplies and health personnel, which exacerbates the humanitarian situation.”
Abu Safiya warned, “Food is very scarce, and we cannot provide meals for the wounded, not even for the medical staff who work around the clock.”
He called on the international community to quickly intervene to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid, including food, medical supplies, and surgical tools.
He concluded by saying: “The hospital is constantly under fire, with intense sniper activity, which makes it look like a military target. Its walls are full of bullets and shells, even though it is a small hospital that provides only humanitarian services.”
On October 5, the Israeli army invaded the northern Gaza Strip, under the pretext of “preventing the Hamas movement from regaining its power in the region.”
