In a statement, the health ministry in Gaza said that at least 600 patients, companions, and medical cadres have been taken hostage at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya by the ongoing Israeli military siege.
On Friday, Israeli troops stormed the hospital, forcing patients to be relocated to the central courtyard while mass arrests were made. At least two children have died in the intensive care unit since generators at the hospital failed, and the oxygen supply was targeted.
The health ministry said that 195 patients and 70 medical staff were still inside, but conditions were “alarmingly deteriorating.” The raid came hours after Israeli tanks shelled the hospital compound for the first time on the twentieth day of its siege. The hospital’s director, Hussam Abu Safia warned that the facility risks turning into a mass grave, as reportedly one patient dies every hour due to the military attack.
On Tuesday, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, expressed deep concern over the fact that communication with personnel in the hospital had been lost. He underlined that the facility is overcrowded with nearly 200 patients, as well as many others seeking shelter from ongoing violence.
The Palestinian health ministry accused Israeli forces of “storming” the hospital and detaining hundreds of patients and medical staff, as well as displaced people who had sought shelter. Witnesses said there were fires, further complicating the evacuation and hampering access to ambulances.
Scores of Israeli tanks are outside the hospital, backed up by a heavy military presence. The Israeli military said it was “operating in the area” due to intelligence about the “presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.”
In a related incident, the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya was rendered unusable after Israeli soldiers stormed a neighboring school, after which the facility caught fire and its generators were destroyed. Patients from the Indonesian Hospital have been transferred to the already overstretched Kamal Adwan Hospital. The United Nations has reported difficulty accessing all three hospitals in northern Gaza, raising concerns over humanitarian assistance and forced displacement.
