The Israeli Army enters the Kamal Aduan hospital in Gaza after weeks of siege

The Israeli Army finally announced this Friday the entry of its forces into the Kamal Aduan hospital, the last operational medical center in northern Gaza, after weeks of siege to the facilities in an operation conceived, according to the military, against the militias. Palestinians barricaded inside the center and denounced by the hospital management as a violation of International Humanitarian Law and a fatal blow to the health system in the area.

The operation is being carried out by forces of the 401st brigade under the direction of the Israeli national intelligence service, the Shin Bet, according to “preliminary information about the presence of terrorists, terrorist infrastructure and terrorist activity in the area.”

The Israeli Army has indicated that, before the operation, it has allowed the “orderly evacuation” of both patients and personnel in coordination with local authorities and international organizations.

Gaza health authorities provide a radically different account: They accuse Israel of forcibly entering the medical center and expelling 350 people, including patients and medical staff, while cutting off the hospital’s communication with the outside world, according to a statement. of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, under Hamas control.

The director of the center, Dr. Hosam abú Sufiya, has specified that the forced evacuation of the hospital has affected 75 injured people plus companions and about 180 members of staff, who are being transferred from Jabalia in a southerly direction to the Baptista Al Ahli Hospital, in Gaza City.

The Palestinian Islamist movement, in a parallel statement, has reiterated its complaints against the “barbaric bombings” by Israel in recent days in the vicinity of the center, which reached their maximum expression last night with an attack that left more than 50 dead, including five hospital members.

THE HOSPITAL, ON FIRE

Palestinian doctors have reported that the hospital and its ambulances have been burned in previous attacks. “The operating rooms, laboratory, maintenance, ambulance units and warehouses are completely burned and the fire is now spreading to all buildings,” the Gaza Ministry of Health said.

“What is happening today represents a fatal blow to the remaining health system in northern Gaza, and is entirely consistent with Israel’s plan to depopulate the area,” they added.

Of the three hospitals that provided medical services in northern Gaza — Beit Hanoun Hospital, Indonesian Hospital and Kamal Aduan — the first has been “completely destroyed and the second was “completely out of service after the destruction of all infrastructure”.

“The burning of the Kamal Aduan Hospital is a flagrant war crime that is happening before the eyes and ears of the world, without it lifting a finger,” the Islamist movement has denounced.