The World Health Organization said it was “dismayed by the effective destruction” of the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip after an Israeli army operation which, according to the WHO, cost life to “at least eight patients”. “Many health workers have been arrested, and WHO and its partners are urgently seeking information on their status,” writes WHO boss Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X.
In response to this message, the Israeli representation to the UN in Geneva criticized, still on X, Dr. Tedros for not saying “that Hamas has established itself inside the hospital.”
The evacuated patients themselves
Before the Israeli army “entered the compound, a dialogue was initiated in coordination with the medical teams.” The army “authorized a humanitarian window and most of the hospital was evacuated,” assured Israeli diplomacy. The WHO boss’s version differs: “We have learned that many patients had to evacuate themselves, risking their health and safety, as ambulances were unable to reach the establishment,” writes – he.
“Among the deceased patients, several died due to lack of adequate health care, including a 9-year-old child. We are extremely concerned about the well-being of the displaced people who have taken refuge within the hospital grounds,” adds he. “Gaza’s health system was already on its knees, and the loss of another hospital, even functioning at a minimum, is a hard blow,” emphasizes Doctor Tedros.
Gaza health infrastructure hit hard
The entire health infrastructure in the Gaza Strip has been hit hard by bombings and ground operations carried out by the Israeli army since the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7. This attack left 1,140 dead, mostly civilians and 240 hostages, taken to the Gaza Strip by the Islamic movement. Since then, the Israeli army has relentlessly bombarded the densely populated Palestinian territory, killing, according to the Palestinian Hamas government, 18,800 people, 75% of whom were children.
Israel accuses Hamas of using certain hospitals – which have special protective status under the laws of war – to hide weapons or install command posts underground. Thus, the Israeli representation indicates that the army “arrested 90 terrorists in the surrounding area, some of whom had carried out the terrorist attack of October 7.” “Israel also destroyed terrorist infrastructure and located numerous weapons and intelligence documents, notably hidden in the baby room inside the incubators,” according to the message on X. The Israeli representation also accuses the WHO of not not condemn Hamas’s use of hospitals.