Hamas calls on the United Nations to intervene to protect the remaining medical facilities in Gaza
GAZA, Dec 29 (SABAH): 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.
Israeli forces have detained and interrogated medical staff after forcibly evacuating the last major hospital in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
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 operative”, without providing evidence.
An estimated 50 people, including medical staff were martyred 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 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 said the military had ordered the evacuation around 07:00 on the other day, 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 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 some elements were using the Kamal Adwan Hospital as a command centre for its military operations in Jabalia.