GENEVA/GAZA STRIP:
The World Health Organization said Saturday that the Kamal Adwan hospital was “now empty” following an Israeli military raid which put north Gaza’s last major health facility out of service.
In addition, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday that 48 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll of the war to 45,484.
The WHO said it was “appalled” by Friday’s raid, saying “hospitals have once again become battlegrounds”.
“The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on north Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
Israel’s military said Saturday it had ended its raid on “a Hamas command centre” in the hospital and had detained its director, accusing him of being an operative for the Palestinian militant group.
Israeli forces began broader operations in northern Gaza in October.
“Kamal Adwan is now empty,” the WHO said.
The remaining 15 critical patients, 50 caregivers and 20 health workers were transferred Friday to the Indonesian Hospital, which it described as “destroyed and non-functional”.
“The movement and treatment of these critical patients under such conditions pose grave risks to their survival.
“WHO is deeply concerned for their wellbeing, as well as for the Kamal Adwan Hospital director.”
The WHO said initial reports indicated that some areas of the hospital were burnt and severely damaged during the raid.
Those included the laboratory, surgical unit, engineering and maintenance department, operations theatre and the medical store.
