Israeli forces have detained and interrogated medical workers after forcibly evacuating the final main hospital in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run well being ministry says.
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, was amongst these taken for questioning by the Israel Protection Forces (IDF), which accused him of “being a Hamas terrorist operative”, with out offering proof.
On Friday an estimated 50 folks, together with medical workers had been killed in Israeli air strikes concentrating on the neighborhood of the hospital, the well being ministry stated.
The IDF stated it had carried out an operation there, alleging the hospital was a “Hamas terrorist stronghold”.
Fifteen crucial sufferers, 50 caregivers and 20 well being employees had been transferred the close by Indonesian Hospital, the World Well being Group (WHO) stated.
The WHO stated it was “appalled by yesterday’s raid” on the hospital, which it stated now meant the realm’s final main well being facility was out of service.
Eid Sabbah, head of the nursing division at Kamal Adwan, instructed the BBC the navy had ordered the evacuation round 07:00 on Friday, giving the hospital about quarter-hour to maneuver sufferers and workers into the courtyard.
Israeli troops then entered the hospital and eliminated the remaining sufferers, he stated.
The IDF stated it had “facilitated the safe evacuation of civilians, sufferers and medical personnel” earlier than starting the operation.
The town of Beit Lahia, the place the hospital is positioned, has been underneath a tightening Israeli blockade imposed on elements of northern Gaza since October.
The UN has stated the realm has been underneath “near-total siege” because the Israeli navy closely restricts entry of support deliveries to an space the place an estimated 10,000 to fifteen,000 folks stay.
In current days, the hospital’s directors have issued determined pleas interesting to be protected, as they are saying the ability has grow to be a daily goal for Israeli shelling and explosives.
However the IDF and Israeli Safety Company (ISA) alleged that intelligence had proven “terrorists” had been utilizing the Kamal Adwan Hospital as a command centre for its navy operations in Jabalia.
In an announcement on Saturday, the IDF stated it apprehended 240 combatants.
It stated IDF officers had been attacked in the course of the operation and weapons had been discovered and confiscated within the space of the hospital.
It added Dr Abu Safiya was amongst medical workers taken for questioning and is “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative, in addition to Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives.”
Hamas has referred to as on the United Nations to intervene to guard the remaining medical services in Gaza.
“We additionally demand that UN observers be despatched to those services as a way to decide the reality of what’s taking place,” it stated in assertion on Saturday.
Gaza’s deputy minister of well being, Dr Yousef Abu-Al Rish, instructed the BBC that round 100 medical workers had been being questioned by the IDF and alleged that some had been uncovered to psychological torture.
The IDF didn’t touch upon the latter allegation when approached by the BBC.
Considerations stay concerning the state of the Indonesian Hospital, which docs have warned isn’t outfitted for sufferers.
“You possibly can’t name it a hospital, it is extra of a shelter,” Dr Abu-Al Rish stated on Friday.
The WHO added that an pressing mission was being deliberate to the Indonesian Hospital to maneuver sufferers to southern Gaza for medical care.
Further reporting by Shaimaa Khalil