“This horror must end”: WHO condemns the Israeli attack on a major hospital in Gaza | News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The World Health Organization condemned Israel Storming a vital hospital In northern Gaza, he said that attacks on medical facilities were a “death sentence” for thousands of Palestinians, and that “this horror must end.”

that Israeli military attack The World Health Organization said that the bombing of Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday put the last major health facility in northern Gaza out of service.

The World Health Organization said in a statement on Channel X on Friday evening, “Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burned and destroyed during the raid.”

The Israeli army said in a statement that it launched a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital as a “Hamas terrorist stronghold,” but failed to provide evidence. Hamas said it “categorically” denied these accusations.

As of Friday morning, the hospital was housing about 350 people, including 75 patients, along with 180 medical staff.

The World Health Organization said 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including those on ventilators, remained in hospital.

The UN health agency said moderate to critically ill patients were forced to evacuate to the damaged and non-functioning Indonesian hospital, adding that it was “deeply concerned for their safety.”

The World Health Organization renewed its call for a ceasefire.

The World Health Organization said: “This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for the World Health Organization and its partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October.”

“Such hostilities and raids eliminate all our efforts and support to maintain the facility’s minimal operation. The systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health system is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care.

“This horror must end and health care must be protected.”

This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has placed the last major health facility in the north in ruins #Gaza Out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burned and destroyed during the raid.

60 health workers and 25 patients are in critical condition. pic.twitter.com/bD5eJgnVkR

– World Health Organization (@WHO) December 27, 2024

The Israeli army began a renewed ground offensive in northern Gaza in October, claiming, without providing evidence, that the hospital had become “a major stronghold for terrorist organizations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist activists.”

Before beginning the final attack on the hospital, the Israeli army said that its soldiers “facilitated the safe evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel.”

Hamas denied the presence of its fighters in the hospital, and urged the United Nations to form an investigation committee “to examine the extent of the crime committed in northern Gaza.”

Hamas said in a statement: “We categorically deny the presence of any military or resistance activity in the hospital.”

“The enemy’s lies about the hospital aim to justify the heinous crime committed by the occupation army today, which included the evacuation and burning of all departments of the hospital as part of a plan of extermination and forced displacement.”

Al Jazeera’s Hamda Salhout said the Israeli military has often accused Hamas fighters of operating from medical facilities, but has never substantiated these allegations.

She added: “The most notable was the raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in 2023 when the army said that Hamas was using Al-Shifa as a command and control center, allegations that have not been proven to this day.” Jordan, because Al Jazeera was banned from operating in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

“Now, Kamal Adwan was the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, but it was barely functioning because of the blockade imposed by Israeli forces – a blockade on food, water and all kinds of other medical supplies.”

Health officials in Gaza said on Saturday that Israeli forces arrested the hospital director.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said in a statement that the occupation forces transferred dozens of medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention center for investigation, including the hospital director, Hossam Abu Safiya.

The Gaza Civil Defense Service also reported that Abu Safiya had been arrested.

The ministry had previously quoted Abu Safiya as saying that the army “set fire to all the surgical departments in the hospital.”

Abu Safiya said that there were “a large number of injuries” among the medical team.

Abu Safiya said on Thursday that five employees were killed in an Israeli air attack.

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians since October last year, most of them children and women, according to health officials in the Strip. The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, and much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble.

In recent days, Abu Safiya has repeatedly raised concerns about the hospital’s condition.

“The world must understand that our hospital was targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside it,” he said in a statement on Monday.