Israeli forces have detained and interrogated medical staff after forcibly evacuating the last major hospital in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, was among those taken for questioning by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which accused him of “being a Hamas terrorist operative”, without providing evidence.
On Friday an estimated 50 people, including medical staff were killed in Israeli air strikes targeting the vicinity of the hospital, the health ministry said.
The IDF said it had carried out an operation there, alleging the hospital was a “Hamas terrorist stronghold”.
Fifteen critical patients, 50 caregivers and 20 health workers were transferred the nearby Indonesian Hospital, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The WHO said it was “appalled by yesterday’s raid” on the hospital, which it said now meant the area’s last major health facility was out of service.
Eid Sabbah, head of the nursing department at Kamal Adwan, told the BBC the military had ordered the evacuation around 07:00 on Friday, giving the hospital about 15 minutes to move patients and staff into the courtyard.
Israeli troops then entered the hospital and removed the remaining patients, he said.
The IDF said it had “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel” before beginning the operation.
The city of Beit Lahia, where the hospital is located, has been under a tightening Israeli blockade imposed on parts of northern Gaza since October.
The UN has said the area has been under “near-total siege” as the Israeli military heavily restricts access of aid deliveries to an area where an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people remain.
In recent days, the hospital’s administrators have issued desperate pleas appealing to be protected, as they say the facility has become a regular target for Israeli shelling and explosives.
But the IDF and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) alleged that intelligence had shown “terrorists” were using the Kamal Adwan Hospital as a command centre for its military operations in Jabalia.
In a statement on Saturday, the IDF said it apprehended 240 combatants.
It said IDF officers were attacked during the operation and weapons were found and confiscated in the area of the hospital.
It added Dr Abu Safiya was among medical staff taken for questioning and is “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative, as well as Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives.”
Hamas has called on the United Nations to intervene to protect the remaining medical facilities in Gaza.
“We also demand that UN observers be sent to these facilities in order to determine the truth of what is happening,” it said in statement on Saturday.
Gaza’s deputy minister of health, Dr Yousef Abu-Al Rish, told the BBC that around 100 medical staff were being questioned by the IDF and alleged that some were exposed to psychological torture.
The IDF did not comment on the latter allegation when approached by the BBC.
Concerns remain about the state of the Indonesian Hospital, which doctors have warned is not equipped for patients.
“You can’t call it a hospital, it’s more of a shelter,” Dr Abu-Al Rish said on Friday.
The WHO added that an urgent mission was being planned to the Indonesian Hospital to move patients to southern Gaza for medical care.
Additional reporting by Shaimaa Khalil
