The director of a key hospital in the north of the Palestinian territory, now empty, was taken this Saturday, December 28 by the IDF for questioning because he was “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist.” The IDF military operation targeting the establishment is over.
The Ministry of Health of the Hamas government in Gaza and the local Civil Defense denounced this Saturday, December 28, the detention by Israel of the director of a key hospital in the north of the Palestinian territory. “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 said in a statement.
“By arresting the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital, 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 northern Gaza,” castigated the spokesperson for Civil Defense, Mahmoud Bassal. The Israeli army confirmed this Saturday late in the day that the director of the establishment, “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist”, had been arrested for questioning.
The day before, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Kamal Adwan, until then the last major operational hospital in northern Gaza, was «hors service» after an Israeli raid against Hamas fighters near this establishment. At the end of the day this Saturday, December 28, the WHO announced that the hospital in northern Gaza is now empty. In the process, the Israeli army announced the end of its operation against “a Hamas command center” in the hospital. “Forces arrested more than 240 terrorists in the surrounding area,” she said this Saturday at the end of the day. Israeli special forces, the army details in its press release, entered the hospital, which had previously been surrounded. They “found weapons, including grenades, pistols, ammunition and military equipment.” The army also says it came under fire from anti-tank missiles and rocket launchers during its operation, and that its air force “eliminated terrorists who were trying to escape.” The Israelis claim to have contributed in recent weeks, ahead of their operation, to evacuating 350 patients and medical and care staff from the hospital.
Friday “In the evening, the remaining 15 critical patients, 50 caregivers and 20 health workers were transferred to the Indonesian hospital, which lacks the necessary equipment and supplies to provide adequate care,” for its part indicated the WHO, adding that it was “dismayed” by the raid. “Moving and treating these critically ill patients under such conditions poses serious risks to their survival,” she lashed out, adding that“urgent WHO mission to Indonesian hospital planned tomorrow (Sunday, editor’s note) to safely move patients to southern Gaza. The WHO also relays accusations according to which “several people were reportedly stripped naked and forced to walk towards southern Gaza.”
On Friday, the Israeli army announced that it had launched an operation against Hamas fighters near this hospital, which plays a crucial role in a Gaza strip with bloodless health services after more than fourteen months of war. She described the establishment as “stronghold of terrorist organizations (…) used as a hiding place by terrorists”, what has “categorically” Hamas denied.
Updated at 4:57 p.m. with WHO statements on the now empty hospital; at 5:40 p.m. with confirmation of the arrest of the director of the establishment by the IDF; at 6:57 p.m. addition of details from the IDF.
Source: www.liberation.fr
