War in Gaza: evacuated patients, staff, “terrorist hideout”… IDF decommissions Kamal Adwan hospital

It was described by the WHO, until recently, as the last major hospital still in operation in the Gaza Strip. But since Friday, confusion has reigned around the Kamal Adwan hospital, located in Beit Lahia, to the north of the enclave. And, as always since the start of this conflict, two versions clash while information on the spot arrives with great difficulty.

What happened?

On Friday, the Israeli army announced that it had launched an operation against Hamas fighters near the Kamal Adwan hospital. To explain this operation, she assured, in a press release, that the establishment was a “stronghold of terrorist organizations (…) used as a hiding place by terrorists”. An assertion “categorically” denied by Hamas.

A few hours later, still on Friday, the WHO declared that the establishment – whose role was crucial in a Gaza Strip with bloodless health services after more than 14 months of war – was now “out of service » after the Israeli raid. For his part, an Israeli army spokesperson simply assured that a fire “under control” had broken out in an “empty building inside the hospital”. “Initial reports indicate that key services were set on fire and destroyed during the raid. Sixty members of the healthcare staff and 25 patients are in critical condition,” the international organization also pointed out.

What happened to the patients?

Medical sources assured the BBC that the Israeli army had forced the evacuation of the hospital, including its most fragile patients. Eid Sabbah, head of nursing at the establishment, detailed to the British media that on Friday morning, around 7 a.m. (local time), the Israeli army gave the administrators of the Kamal Adwan hospital 15 minutes to evacuate the premises for patients and staff members.

For its part, the Israeli army assured that its troops had “facilitated the safe evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel” before the start of military operations.

Where are they now?

As the BBC points out, Israel has not officially confirmed where the patients were moved, but according to the Hamas government’s deputy health minister, the most vulnerable were sent to the nearby Indonesian hospital. which is, according to him, out of service since it has neither generator for electricity nor water resources. “The army asked all the young men to undress before leaving the hospital and going to a school that it uses as a detention and interrogation center,” Mohammad told AFP , who did not wish to give his last name for fear of being prosecuted.

“The soldiers asked us questions about the resistance, Hamas, the weapons and the people who were filming the bombings and the destruction,” added the 48-year-old man.

Where are the staff members?

This Saturday, the Health Ministry of the Hamas government in Gaza as well as the local Civil Defense affirmed that Israel was detaining the director of the hospital. “The (Israeli) occupying forces took dozens of medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital, including Dr. Hossam Abou Safiya, to a detention center for interrogation,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement. Hamas in a statement.

“By arresting the director of the hospital Kamal Adwan, dozens of medical and technical staff, as well as the director of Civil Defense in the North, the occupation has completely destroyed the medical, humanitarian and relief framework in the north of Gaza,” Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately comment this Saturday morning. The AFP was also unable to directly contact the hospital director despite several attempts.

Thursday, in a press release, Dr Hossam Abou Safiya said that the Israeli operation had left several dead, including five hospital staff. According to him, several of them were killed in bombings that hit a building opposite the hospital.