A key hospital in the northern Gaza Strip has come under Israeli fire

Israeli forces entered the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza and opened fire after several days of sieging the facility, health authorities in the enclave said.

Gaza’s health ministry and the director of the hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza told CNN that Israeli troops entered the hospital twice in the last 24 hours and fired on parts of the complex.

Over the past few days, health officials in Gaza told CNN that the facility was running low on supplies and in desperate need of help amid an influx of wounded from neighboring areas.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospital’s director, said in a video that Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered the hospital grounds late Thursday and began shelling parts of the complex, adding that “all departments of the hospital are under direct fire.”

“Instead of aid, we receive tanks,” he said.

Kamal Adwan is one of three minimally operational hospitals in northern Gaza and is the closest to Israeli military activity in Beit Lahiya and the Jabalya refugee camp. Despite its limited capabilities, it receives most of the wounded in the ongoing battles.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Friday that since the raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, WHO had “lost contact with the staff there.”

“This situation is deeply concerning given the number of patients being served and those taking shelter there,” Ghebreyesus told X. Before Friday’s raid, WHO and its partners managed to reach Kamal Adwan “amid hostilities in the area and transfer 23 patients and 26 caregivers to Al-Shifa Hospital.”

The Israeli military said in a statement Friday that its forces were operating in the area of ​​Kamal Adwan Hospital “based on intelligence regarding the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure,” adding that in the weeks leading up to the operation, “the IDF facilitated the evacuation of patients from the area while maintaining emergency services.”

COGAT, the Israeli agency managing the flow of aid to the belt, said on Friday that several patients and their escorts had been evacuated from the facility with the help of UNICEF and WHO. The hospital also received fuel, blood units and medical equipment.

However, Ghebreyesus of the WHO stated in X that there are about 200 patients in the hospital and hundreds of others are seeking shelter there.

“Shocked by the arrival of bulldozers and tanks”

Maher Shamiya, a Gaza health ministry official, told CNN on Friday that the Israeli military had demolished part of the hospital’s wall. He added that the oxygen station was also destroyed by the Israeli fire.

Shamiya said that on Friday morning, the military entered the hospital compound for a second time and began separating men from women.

“After that it became impossible to communicate with anyone.”

In his video message, Safiya said he was “shocked by the entry of bulldozers and tanks into the hospital premises,” adding that the tanks began shooting at the upper floors, breaking windows and “creating an atmosphere of panic, terror and fear.”

“Everyone in the hospital gathered in the stairwell; it was a very depressing scene,” he said.

In one of the videos, Abu Safiya can be seen speaking from the Intensive Care Unit, where patients and medical staff were gathered. He said several seriously injured people were dying. Abu Safiya said many buildings around the hospital were set on fire.

Later on Thursday evening, a convoy of supplies from the World Health Organization arrived at the hospital, he added. The footage shows a fuel tanker and other vehicles near the facility.

Abu Safiya said the convoy delivered enough fuel for five days, as well as 200 units of blood and several other supplies, but did not deliver food or water.

He said he had contacted Israeli officials.

“I explained the situation of patients and injured people in the hospital, emphasizing that their condition was extremely critical and that they needed to be evacuated.”

Gaza’s health ministry told CNN on Friday that 23 injured people were evacuated in six ambulances. Abu Safiya said there were 70 people in hospital with serious injuries that required evacuation.

Abu Safiyah also told CNN that many were injured in the Jabalya area in northern Gaza, which has been the subject of intense Israeli military operations in recent days.

“We don’t have medical help to reach them, and I don’t have the resources to help them even if they were able to reach us. We have nothing to offer them.”

It has been 21 days since Israel stepped up its military operation in the northern Gaza Strip. Authorities in Gaza say the military has suspended aid in parts of the area and displaced many residents. Israel says it is preventing Hamas from regrouping.

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