The Israeli military has forced patients and staff members out of one of the last hospitals in operation in northern Gaza, and the health ministry said Saturday that the hospital's director was taken into custody. An Israel foreign ministry post on X described Kamal Adwan as a Hamas stronghold, NBC News reports, saying troops ensured the "secure evacuation" of civilians before launching its raid. The World Health Organization said it was "appalled" by the operation, saying that forcibly evacuating patients posed "grave risks to their survival." Colleagues said they don't know where Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and other staff members were taken, per CNN.
The Israeli military confirmed Saturday that it had detained the director, saying he is "suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative." Gaza's health ministry said the hospital that the patients were removed to lacks medical supplies, water, and electricity. Fires burned in Kamal Adwan that Israel said were unconnected to its raid. Fighting has raged around the hospital, which is caught in Israel's offensive against Hamas militants in the area, for almost three months, per the New York Times. The hospital is a main provider of medical care for those who have stayed in the towns of the northernmost part of Gaza, including Jabaliya.
Earlier in the week, the health ministry said, an Israeli strike on the hospital killed five medical personnel. Nour al-Muqayad, who works in the intensive care unit, sent her sister voice messages Friday as the military moved in. She said a bus was on its way to take the last patients and medical staff. "Tonight, Kamal Adwan will be empty," she said. "Nobody will be inside other than the army." (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
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