The three hospitals, al-Awda, Indonesian and Kamal Adwan, have all been under attack again in recent weeks.
An investigation by the Associated Press has found that Israel presented “little or even no evidence” of a significant Hamas presence at hospitals that it targeted in the Gaza Strip.
The probe examined the raids late last year on three hospitals in northern Gaza; al-Awda, Indonesian and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Over several months, more than three dozen patients, witnesses, medical and humanitarian workers as well as Israeli officials were interviewed.
The three hospitals have all been attacked or raided again in recent weeks.
Live scenes of the israeli bombing of Kamal Adwan Hospital as children, patients, doctors & staff run for their lives, not knowing which way to go pic.twitter.com/VCbIFFE7cY
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) November 5, 2024
Doctor Killed in Detention
Some of what the AP investigation found included that at the Al-Awda Hospital:
“The Israeli military has never made any claims of a Hamas presence at al-Awda Hospital. When asked what intelligence led troops to besiege and raid the hospital last year, the military spokesman’s office did not reply,” said AP.
Palestinian Doctors, Hospitals and Health Care Workers are Primary Israeli Military Targets in Gaza
“After troops surrounded the facility, staff said approaching the hospital could be deadly because of Israeli sniper fire. Three hospital administrators said two pregnant women walking to the facility to give birth were shot on December 12 and bled to death in the street. Medics told of recovering their bodies later,” the report said.
“The hospital’s director, Ahmed Muhanna, was seized by Israeli troops after they stormed the facility. His whereabouts remain unknown. One of Gaza’s leading doctors, orthopedist Adnan al-Bursh, was also detained during the raid and died in Israeli custody in May.”
Indonesian Hospital
At the Indonesian Hospital, the largest north of Gaza City, “Israel claimed an underground Hamas command-and-control center lay underneath it. It released blurry satellite images of what it said was a tunnel entrance in the yard and a rocket launchpad nearby, outside the hospital compound,” said AP.
GAZA CIVIL DEFENSE:
The occupation continues to forcibly disrupt our services in the northern Gaza Strip for the 14th consecutive day.
We are facing a real famine in the northern Gaza Strip due to the occupation’s insistence on preventing the entry of aid. pic.twitter.com/RddbnREpe0
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 5, 2024
“After its raid late last year, the Israeli military did not mention or show any evidence of an underground facility or tunnels. Asked if any tunnels were found, the military spokesman’s office did not reply.
“The military released images of two vehicles found in the compound — a pickup truck with military vests and a bloodstained car belonging to an abducted Israeli, suggesting he had been brought to the hospital on October 7. Hamas has said it brought wounded hostages to hospitals for treatment,” reported AP.
Despite continued Israeli suggestions that hospitals were “linked to Hamas tunnel networks, the military has shown only a single tunnel from all hospitals it raided — one accessing Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.”
The report cited staff as saying that Israeli troops shelling of the second floor of the hospital on November 20, killed 12 people and wounding dozens. “Israel said troops responded to “enemy fire” from the hospital but denied using shells,” it said.
“During the siege, doctors and medics estimated a fifth of incoming patients died. At least 60 corpses lay in the courtyard. With few supplies, doctors said they performed dozens of amputations on infected limbs that could not be treated,” the report added.
Kamal Adwan Hospital
At the Kamal Adwan Hospital, “at least 10 patients died for lack of water, oxygen and medicine, as Israeli troops surrounded the building in November.”
“As they stormed the hospital on Dec 12, troops allowed police dogs to attack staff, patients and others, multiple witnesses said. Ahmed Atbail, a 36-year-old sheltering at the hospital, said he saw a dog bite off one man’s finger,” the report said.
The Israeli military said it was unaware of the incident, said AP.
Witnesses told AP that Israeli forces “ordered boys and men from their mid-teens to 60 to line up outside crouched in the cold, blindfolded and nearly naked for hours of interrogation. After releasing some, it opened fire on them as they walked back into the hospital, wounding five, three witnesses said.”
⚡️BREAKING: Palestinian Ministry of Health:
A distress call that may be the final one.
The occupation forces continue to heavily bombard and destroy Kamal Adwan Hospital, affecting all of its facilities.
There are numerous injuries among the medical staff and patients, and… pic.twitter.com/fybBcCooUz
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) November 4, 2024
“Three witnesses said an Israeli military bulldozer plowed into buildings in the hospital compound and crushed tents that had been sheltering displaced people. Most had evacuated, but Abu Safiya said he found the bodies of four people who had been crushed,” the report said.
“When asked about the incident, the Israeli military spokesman’s office said bodies were discovered that had been buried previously, unrelated to the military’s activities,” said AP.
Hospital Staff Detained
Israel claimed “Hamas used the hospital as a command center but produced no evidence. It said soldiers uncovered weapons but showed footage only of a single pistol.”
The report added that Israel said it had “arrested dozens of suspected militants, including the hospital director Dr. Ahmed al-Kahlout.”
“The military released footage of him under interrogation saying he was a Hamas agent and that militants were based in the hospital. His colleagues said he spoke under duress,” the report said.
Israeli troops have besieged the last three functional hospitals in north Gaza, a new chapter in a conflict that has targeted hospitals with an intensity and overtness rarely seen in modern warfare. The AP spent months collecting their stories. https://t.co/ftPrkO02J1
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 3, 2024
Since Israel launched its bombing campaign on Gaza on 7 October 2023, the Israeli military has deliberately targeted hospitals and healthcare facilities, leaving them non-operational and putting the lives of patients and injured civilians at risk, according to Palestinian and United Nations reports.
Over the past month, the Israeli military has repeatedly bombed the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, Indonesian and Al-Yemen Al-Saeed hospitals in northern Gaza.
Six Children Injured
On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Israeli forces targeted the Kamal Adwan Hospital again, damaging the third floor of the facility.
Shortly after the @WHO-led mission to Kamal Adwan Hospital yesterday, the facility’s third floor was reportedly hit again, injuring six children who are patients there. One child sustained a critical injury. Water tanks were damaged. Heavy bombardment persisted very close to the… pic.twitter.com/wbApI0odRU
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 4, 2024
Six children who were patients there were injured, one child critically. Water tanks were also damaged.
“Heavy bombardment persisted very close to the hospital, including when WHO was delivering aid,” the WHO said in a statement. “It is appalling that hospitals in Gaza continue to be attacked, patients continue to be harmed, and health workers and humanitarians continue to work under life-threatening conditions.”
(PC, MEMO)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)