Israeli troops forcibly remove staff and patients from northern Gaza hospital, officials say
World
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, denied the accusations
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops stormed one of the last hospitals operating in northern Gaza on Friday, forcing many staff and patients outside to strip in winter weather, the territory’s health ministry said. The army denied claims it had entered or set fire to the complex and accused Hamas of using the facility for cover.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive against Hamas fighters in surrounding neighborhoods, according to staff. The ministry said a strike on the hospital a day earlier killed five medical staff.
Israel’s military said it was conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and militants in the area and had ordered people out of the hospital, but said it had not entered the complex as of Friday night. It repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that.
The Health Ministry said troops forced medical personnel and patients to assemble in the yard and remove their clothes. Some were led to an unknown location, while some patients were sent to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, which was knocked out of operation after an Israel raid this week.
Israeli troops during raids frequently carry out mass detentions, stripping men to their underwear for questioning in what the military says is a security measure as they search for Hamas fighters.
The Associated Press doesn’t have access to Kamal Adwan, but armed plainclothes members of the Hamas-led police forces have been seen in other hospitals, maintaining security but also controlling access to parts of the facilities.
The Health Ministry said Israeli troops also set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the lab and surgery department. It said 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital. The account could not be independently confirmed, and attempts to reach hospital staff were unsuccessful.
“Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified staff member said in an audio message posted on social media accounts of hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya. The staffer said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen.
“There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she said.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, denied the accusations.
“While IDF troops were not in the hospital, a small fire broke out in an empty building inside the hospital that is under control,” he said Friday night. He said a preliminary investigation found “no connection” between military activity and the fire.
The Israeli military heavily restricts the movements of Palestinians in Gaza and has barred foreign journalists from entering the territory throughout the war, making it difficult to verify information.
“These actions put the lives of all of these people in even more danger than what they faced before,” U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay told journalists, and noted colleagues’ reports of “significant damage” to the hospital. It should be protected as international law requires, she added.
