Israeli Military Surrounds One of the Few Partially Functional Medical Facilities in Northern Gaza Following Shelling
Over 150 patients and staff are trapped inside Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya as Israeli forces besiege the facility, according to Gaza’s Palestinian Civil Defense, as reported by Al Jazeera. On Friday, Israeli forces raided the northern Gaza hospital, ordering patients into the main courtyard while carrying out mass arrests, Wafa news agency reported.
The raid followed an assault in which Israeli tanks shelled the hospital compound, one of the few remaining functional medical centers in northern Gaza, as the siege entered its third week. The hospital’s director, Hussam Abu Safia, reported extensive damage to the intensive care unit from the shelling, warning that the facility risks becoming a mass grave, with one patient dying every hour amid the military assault. Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud noted that witnesses and medical staff described fires breaking out, complicating evacuation efforts and hindering ambulance access.
Injured patients and those with other health complications were forced out of the hospital buildings and into the courtyard
This is occurring just as fuel was anticipated to arrive at the hospital to keep the power generators running, Mahmoud stated. It is difficult to imagine the hospital sustaining its operations now, under direct assault by the Israeli military
He reported a heavy military presence in the area, with dozens of Israeli tanks surrounding the medical compound. The Israeli military stated that troops were actively conducting ground operations throughout the Gaza Strip, claiming to have dismantled infrastructure, destroyed tunnel shafts, and killed fighters in the northern Jabalia region. However, they did not provide any comments on the current situation concerning the hospitals and camps.
In another incident, the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, a second medical facility in northern Gaza, was rendered inoperable on Monday when Israeli soldiers stormed a nearby school, detaining the men inside before setting the facility ablaze. The fire reached the hospital’s generators, leading to a power outage.
Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud reported that the solar panels on the rooftop were also damaged, leaving the Indonesian Hospital without any power source, critically affecting essential equipment like incubators.
Those evacuated from the Indonesian Hospital were relocated to Kamal Adwan Hospital, a mid-sized facility already struggling to accommodate patients beyond its capacity.
The United Nations reported that it had been unable to access all three hospitals in northern Gaza Kamal Adwan, Indonesian, and al-Awda despite repeated requests to allow humanitarian aid.
The UN Human Rights Office expressed growing concern over the Israeli military’s conduct in northern Gaza, particularly regarding the unlawful interference with humanitarian assistance and orders that are leading to forced displacement.