Palestinian families sit outside of tents made locally from pieces of cloth and nylon, in a camp for internally displaced Palestinians at the beachfront in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana Palestinian families sit outside of tents made locally from pieces of cloth and nylon, in a camp for internally displaced Palestinians at the beachfront in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana The Palestinian Health Ministry has alleged that the Israeli troops on Friday forcibly entered Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and forced many staff and patients outside the premises to strip in winter weather. The Israeli army has reportedly denied the claims of entering the hospital and dismissed other accusations too, including setting the complex on fire and alleging that Hamas was using the facility for cover.
Kamal Adwan Hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive against Hamas fighters in surrounding neighbourhoods, according to staff.
The ministry said a strike on the hospital a day earlier killed five medical staff.
Since October, 2024, Israel's offensive has virtually sealed off the northern Gaza areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and levelled large parts of them.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced out but thousands are believed to remain in the area, where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located.
The Israeli troops raided Kamal Adwan in October, and on Tuesday, the troops reportedly stormed and evacuated the Indonesian Hospital.
The area has been cut off from food and other aid for months, raising fears of famine. The United Nations says Israeli troops allowed just four humanitarian deliveries to the area from Dec 1 to Dec 23.
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What Is Israel Military Saying?Israel's military agreed that they were conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and militants in the area and had ordered people out of the hospital, but they denied the claims of entering the complex as of Friday night.
The military officials repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that.
Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, denied the accusations.
“While IDF troops were not in the hospital, a small fire broke out in an empty building inside the hospital that is under control,” he said Friday night. He said a preliminary investigation found “no connection” between military activity and the fire.
What Is Palestinian Health Ministry Saying?The Health Ministry said troops forced medical personnel and patients to assemble in the yard and remove their clothes.
Some were led to an unknown location, while some patients were sent to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, which was knocked out of operation after an Israel raid this week.
The Health Ministry said Israeli troops also set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the lab and surgery department. It said 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital, reported AP.
“Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified staff member said in an audio message posted on social media accounts of hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya. The staffer also said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen.
“There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she added.
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According to AP, the Israeli troops during raids frequently carry out mass detentions, stripping men to their underwear for questioning in what the military says is a security measure as they search for Hamas fighters.
They also reported that armed plainclothes members of the Hamas-led police forces have been seen in other hospitals, maintaining security but also controlling access to parts of the facilities.
UN spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay told the media, “These actions put the lives of all of these people in even more danger than what they faced before,” and also noted colleagues' reports of “significant damage” to the hospital.
sizzling hot free gameIt should be protected as international law requires, she added.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza vowing to destroy Hamas after the group's Oct 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others. Around 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza and around a third believed to be dead.
Israel's nearly 15-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives has devastated the territory's health sector. A year ago, it carried out raids on hospitals in northern Gaza, including Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and al-Awda Hospital, saying they served as bases for Hamas, though it presented little evidence.
Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, more than half women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 othersstrike33, according to the Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
