On Sunday night (22), Israeli authorities ordered the closure of one of the last hospitals still operating in northern Gaza. Health workers are now looking for ways to safely transport hundreds of patients and staff to other locations while facing intense shelling.
Husam Abu Safiya, head of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said it was “almost impossible” to comply with the order to evacuate patients, as there were not enough ambulances to transport them.
“We currently have almost 400 civilians inside the hospital, including babies in the neonatal unit, whose lives depend on oxygen and incubators. We cannot safely remove these patients without assistance, equipment and time,” he explained to Reuters.
According to Safiya, the hospital is “under heavy shelling and direct attacks on the fuel tanks which, if hit, will cause a huge explosion and mass deaths of civilians in the facility.”
On Friday (20), Israeli forces said they had sent fuel and food to the hospital and helped evacuate more than 100 patients and caregivers, taking them to other hospitals in Gaza, in coordination with the Red Cross. The Kamal Adwan Hospital is one of the few still operating in northern Gaza, an area that has faced intense Israeli military pressure for almost three months.
According to the head of the hospital, Tel Aviv ordered that the evacuated patients and staff be taken to another hospital, which is in even worse conditions, overcrowded and with beds scattered throughout the corridors.
The Gaza Ministry of Health has warned that the three main hospitals in the north of the region, including Kamal Adwan, are barely functioning and have been the target of repeated attacks since Israel sent tanks to Beit Lahiya and the neighboring towns of Gaza. Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, in October.
Israel has guaranteed that the operation in these communities in the north of the Gaza Strip targets Hamas militants. The Palestinians, in turn, accuse the military of seeking to permanently depopulate the region to create a buffer area.
Attacks on refugee camp
This Monday morning, reports emerged of Israeli bombings of the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip. At least four people are believed to have died, according to Al Jazeera.
According to the publication, Israeli forces surrounded the site in the early hours of the morning, with quadcopters (a type of helicopter) and armed vehicles.
“They fired intermittently, using quadcopters and heavy artillery. One person died at the scene,” Al Jazeera found. “The vast majority of the displaced population are civilians – women and children. They are also the ones who make up the majority of victims who arrive at hospitals”, he adds.
The most recent assessment by Gaza authorities indicates that more than 45,200 Palestinians have been killed in attacks carried out by Israel since October 7 last year. The number of injured now exceeds 107 thousand.
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