Israel raids northern Gaza hospital as UN warns ‘darkest moment’ is in Gaza Strip

Israeli forces have entered a hospital complex in northern Gaza, as the United Nations warned that the “darkest moment” of the war was taking place in the northern Gaza Strip.

After days of besieging the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, the Israeli army entered the hospital complex twice in the past 24 hours and opened fire on parts of the complex, the Gaza Health Ministry and hospital director told CNN .

The facility is running low on supplies and needs urgent assistance as wounded people pour in from neighboring areas due to Israel’s renewed offensive in northern areas, health authorities said.

“One of the darkest moments of the Gaza conflict is taking place in the north of the Gaza Strip,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday.

“The Israeli army is effectively subjecting an entire population to bombings, sieges and the risk of famine, as well as being forced to choose between mass displacement and being trapped in an active conflict zone,” he added, warning that Israel’s actions would can amount to crimes. against humanity.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that Israeli forces detained all male medical staff at the hospital “while women were locked in one of the hospital rooms without water or food.”

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

“This development is very worrying given the number of patients being helped and the people seeking shelter there,” Ghebreyesus said on amid hostilities in the area, and 23 patients and 26 healthcare providers to Al-Shifa Hospital.”

Ghebreyesus said later Saturday that the Israeli raid on the hospital was over, but that it came “at great cost.” After 44 male staff members were arrested, the hospital’s female staff, the hospital director and another male doctor were left to care for “nearly 200 patients in need of urgent medical attention,” Ghebreyesus said.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospital director, said in a video that Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered the hospital complex late Thursday and began shooting at parts of the complex, adding that “all departments of the hospital are being directly shelled.”

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

After hours of communications blackout and “intense bombardment,” Safiya told CNN late Friday that Israeli forces were still at the hospital.

“We all gathered in one place, and then the army called me. When I crashed, they put me in a tank and started interrogating me about my statements and contact with the media,” Abu Safiya said.

He said the Israeli army “searched all rooms, evacuated the displaced persons and removed 44 personnel” as he spoke.

“The situation is extremely tragic and terrifying, and the bombing continues continuously,” Abu Safiya said.

Kamal Adwan is one of three minimally operational hospitals in northern Gaza, and the closest to Israeli military activity in Beit Lahiya and the Jabalya refugee camp. Despite its limited capacity, it received most of the wounded from the surrounding fighting.

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

COGAT, the Israeli agency that manages the flow of aid to the strip, said Friday that with the help of UNICEF and WHO, several patients and their attendants have been evacuated from the facility. The hospital also received fuel, blood units and medical equipment.

‘Shocked by the arrival of bulldozers and tanks’

Maher Shamiya, an official with Gaza’s health ministry, told CNN on Friday that the Israeli army had demolished parts of the hospital’s wall. The oxygen station was also damaged by Israeli fire, he said.

Shamiya said the military entered the hospital premises for the second time on Friday morning 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 intrusion of bulldozers and tanks into the hospital grounds,” adding that tanks began firing on the upper floors, shattering windows and “creating an atmosphere of panic, terror and fear.”

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

One video showed Abu Safiya speaking from the intensive care unit, where patients and medical staff sat together. He said some seriously injured people died. Abu Safiya said a number of properties around the hospital had been set on fire.

Later Thursday evening, a convoy carrying supplies from the World Health Organization reached the hospital, he said. Video showed a fuel tanker and other vehicles near the facility.

Abu Safiya said the convoy provided enough fuel for five days, as well as 200 units of blood and a few other supplies, but no food or water.

He said he had been in contact with Israeli officers.

“I explained the situation of the patients and the injured in the hospital, emphasizing that their condition was extremely critical and that evacuation was necessary.”

The Health Ministry in Gaza told CNN on Friday that 23 injured people had been evacuated in six ambulances. Abu Safiya said there were 70 seriously injured people in the hospital who had to be evacuated.

Abu Safiya also told CNN that there were a large number of wounded in the Jabalya area of ​​northern Gaza, which has been subjected to intensive Israeli military operations in recent days.

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

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

CNN’s Benjamin Brown, Niamh Kennedy and Catherine Nicholls contributed to reporting.

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