Israeli forces have detained and interrogated medical employees after forcibly evacuating the final main hospital in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run well being ministry says.
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, was amongst these taken for questioning by the Israel Protection Forces (IDF), which accused him of “being a Hamas terrorist operative”, with out offering proof.
On Friday an estimated 50 individuals, together with medical employees have been killed in Israeli air strikes focusing on the neighborhood of the hospital, the well being ministry mentioned.
The IDF mentioned it had carried out an operation there, alleging the hospital was a “Hamas terrorist stronghold”.
Fifteen crucial sufferers, 50 caregivers and 20 well being employees have been transferred the close by Indonesian Hospital, the World Well being Group (WHO) mentioned.
The WHO mentioned it was “appalled by yesterday’s raid” on the hospital, which it mentioned now meant the realm’s final main well being facility was out of service.
Eid Sabbah, head of the nursing division at Kamal Adwan, instructed the BBC the army had ordered the evacuation round 07:00 on Friday, giving the hospital about quarter-hour to maneuver sufferers and employees into the courtyard.
Israeli troops then entered the hospital and eliminated the remaining sufferers, he mentioned.
The IDF mentioned it had “facilitated the safe evacuation of civilians, sufferers and medical personnel” earlier than starting the operation.
The town of Beit Lahia, the place the hospital is positioned, has been below a tightening Israeli blockade imposed on components of northern Gaza since October.
The UN has mentioned the realm has been below “near-total siege” because the Israeli army closely restricts entry of support deliveries to an space the place an estimated 10,000 to fifteen,000 individuals stay.
In latest days, the hospital’s directors have issued determined pleas interesting to be protected, as they are saying the power has turn out to be a daily goal for Israeli shelling and explosives.
However the IDF and Israeli Safety Company (ISA) alleged that intelligence had proven “terrorists” have been utilizing the Kamal Adwan Hospital as a command centre for its army operations in Jabalia.
In an announcement on Saturday, the IDF mentioned it apprehended 240 combatants.
It mentioned IDF officers have been attacked throughout the operation and weapons have been discovered and confiscated within the space of the hospital.
It added Dr Abu Safiya was amongst medical employees taken for questioning and is “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative, in addition to Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives.”
Hamas has referred to as on the United Nations to intervene to guard the remaining medical amenities in Gaza.
“We additionally demand that UN observers be despatched to those amenities as a way to decide the reality of what’s taking place,” it mentioned in assertion on Saturday.
Gaza’s deputy minister of well being, Dr Yousef Abu-Al Rish, instructed the BBC that round 100 medical employees have been being questioned by the IDF and alleged that some have been uncovered to psychological torture.
The IDF didn’t touch upon the latter allegation when approached by the BBC.
Considerations stay in regards to the state of the Indonesian Hospital, which medical doctors have warned will not be geared up for sufferers.
“You possibly can’t name it a hospital, it is extra of a shelter,” Dr Abu-Al Rish mentioned on Friday.
The WHO added that an pressing mission was being deliberate to the Indonesian Hospital to maneuver sufferers to southern Gaza for medical care.
Extra reporting by Shaimaa Khalil
