‘The hospital has been directly targeted with shells and gunfire, penetrating walls and damaging several departments, including the children's ward and the neonatal unit,' says Abu Safieh
The director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip said Saturday that the facility is under an "unprecedented" Israeli attack.
"The hospital has been directly targeted with shells and gunfire, penetrating walls and damaging several departments, including the children's ward and the neonatal unit, causing severe destruction,” Hussam Abu Safieh said in an audio recording distributed to journalists. "There is an unprecedented attack on the hospital and the doctors, who have gathered in one location, as we face an extraordinary assault.”
Abu Safieh held the international community responsible for what is happening to the hospital.
Munir Al-Bursh, the head of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Anadolu that the Israeli army is demanding “the immediate evacuation of the hospital while it is under direct shelling."
"The occupation forces targeted the hospital with sniper fire and tank shelling at its various departments," he said.
Al-Bursh appealed to the international community for "urgent action to stop these assaults that endanger the lives of patients and medical staff."
Israel launched a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza on Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
No sufficient humanitarian aid including food, medicine and fuel has since been allowed into the area, leaving the population on the verge of imminent famine.
The onslaught was the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on Gaza that has killed nearly 45,300 victims, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.
