On Friday, a devastating incident unfolded at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza as Israeli forces launched a raid that resulted in the deaths of four doctors and caused injuries to numerous individuals in the vicinity. Eyewitnesses recounted the harrowing events that transpired, detailing how Israeli troops not only attacked the hospital but also forced healthcare workers and patients to evacuate the premises, leaving critical medical supplies in ruins.
The hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Saifya, described the distressing sequence of events that unfolded during the early hours of the raid. Israeli military personnel entered the hospital premises and instructed people to evacuate through a megaphone. Subsequently, a significant number of individuals, including young men, health workers, and Palestinians seeking refuge, were detained during the two-hour operation.
Israeli quadcopters unleashed a barrage of intense gunfire while military vehicles surrounded the hospital, creating a chaotic and dangerous situation for those present. Patients, displaced individuals, and healthcare workers were corralled in the hospital's courtyard and forcibly taken to a checkpoint further south towards Gaza City.
Members of an Indonesian medical delegation, who were providing crucial surgical services at the hospital, were also among those compelled to leave and were not permitted to return. The attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital marked the second such raid by the Israeli military in recent times, exacerbating the already dire situation in northern Gaza.
According to Gaza's Government Media Office, the toll from the ongoing conflict is staggering, with over 3,700 Palestinians killed and 10,000 others injured. The relentless violence has left emergency crews struggling to attend to the wounded and has plunged the region into a state of profound humanitarian crisis.
Following the raid, the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the area, leaving behind a scene of devastation. Hospital staff and patients emerged from the facility to find numerous casualties strewn across the streets, underscoring the magnitude of the tragedy that had unfolded.
Dr. Munir Al Bursh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that at least 30 people lost their lives due to Israeli bombings in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital. The destruction caused by the attacks has severely hampered the hospital's ability to provide essential medical care, with critical equipment damaged and a limited number of medical personnel available.
Amidst the chaos, a separate incident saw a 16-year-old boy tragically killed by an Israeli drone strike as he was entering the hospital's X-ray department in a wheelchair. The relentless cycle of violence and loss in Gaza has taken a heavy toll on the healthcare system and the civilian population, with no end to the suffering in sight.
Source has reached out to the Israeli military for comment on the allegations made by Dr. Abu Saifya, seeking clarity on the events that transpired at Kamal Adwan Hospital. The conflict in Gaza continues to escalate, with both sides locked in a cycle of violence that has claimed countless lives and inflicted untold suffering on the people of the region.