Israeli forces reportedly shelled one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza after a dayslong raid, destroying the pharmaceutical warehouse, intensive care unit, and tents used for temporary housing. They also detained 44 medical professionals while displacing hundreds of Palestinians staying in the premises while they sought for shelter.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded Kamal Adwan Hospital, which at the moment provides care for two-thirds of Palestinians in Gaza, around 5:00 a.m. on Friday.
There are contrasting reports about the events that unfolded. Al Jazeera reporters, who Israel has accused of being members of Hamas, said troops and started "shooting in every direction." Hundreds of Palestinians sheltering in the hospital were then evacuated and divided into two lines of men and women. The reporters vehemently deny being members of Hamas.
The IDF detained 44 of the hospital's 70 medical professionals and later released 14 of them, including the hospital's director Hussam Abu Safia, who then learned his 8-year-old son, Ibrahim, was killed during the attack.
Safia spoke about his son's burial and the siege in a video shared on X.
Our children killed before our eyes and we bury them with our own hands.
— Khaled Yousry (@KhaledYousry22) October 27, 2024
They killed my son.
Because we are delivering a humanitarian message, our children are being killed.
I buried my son by the hospital wall.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyah, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital... pic.twitter.com/UP0TrGuWnx
"The smell of death has spread around the hospital," Marwan al-Hams, director of field hospitals at Gaza's Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, told Al Jazeera.
He claimed that Israeli forces destroyed the hospital's medical supplies to prevent the medics from saving the wounded. Generators and an oxygen station were also destroyed, resulting in the death of two children in the intensive care unit.
The IDF, in turn, also said that it had "coordinated with the hospital to activate an additional generator, ensuring electricity and supply for patients."
The forces added that the reason for the raid was "intelligence information that indicated that terrorists had embedded themselves inside," adding that troops found "weapons, terror funds, and intelligence documents." They did not, however, provide evidence, according to NBC News.
As fighting continues in Gaza, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has proposed a two-day truce and limited hostage exchange aimed at securing "a complete ceasefire."
The proposal made on Sunday includes exchanging four Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and would be followed by more negotiations within 10 days, Sisi said at a news conference in Cairo.
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