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During the Israel–Hamas war, the Kamal Adwan Hospital, a hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip, Palestine, has been besieged multiple times by the Israel Defense Forces. Hamas has been accused by Israel of using hospitals as shields and bases to conduct attacks against Israel.

Background

The Kamal Adwan Hospital was a site of conflict during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war following the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israel's targeting of Kamal Adwan came amidst a broader Israeli targeting of health facilities in the Gaza Strip. On 3 December, the IDF struck in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan hospital, killing at least four people according to Al-Jazeera. On 11 December, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital stated Israel had killed two mothers and their newborn babies when Israel targeted its maternity ward. According to UN News, the "maternity department was reportedly hit during shelling and two mothers were killed". As of August 2024, the Kamal Adwan Hospital houses the only functioning neo-natal ICU left in Gaza.

December 2023

On 12 December, Israel raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital. The head of pediatrics stated the IDF had ordered all men and boys above age sixteen to leave the hospital to be searched. 70 medical staffers were arrested and taken to an unknown location. The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated he was "extremely worried" about the situation at Kamal Adwan.

The IDF released a video claiming that it showed alleged terrorists near Kamal Adwan reportedly surrendering their weapons. These claims were quickly challenged by family members who identified their non-combatant relatives.

On 14 December, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 2,500 internally displaced persons had been forcibly evacuated, and that IDF soldiers had prevented medical staff from continuing support to 12 babies in intensive care and ten emergency department patients, leading to two deaths. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated patients had evacuated Kamal Adwan hospital, resulting in the deaths of patients, including a nine-year-old.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated on 16 December that according to media reports "an Israeli military bulldozer flattened the tents of a number of internally displaced persons outside the hospital, killing and wounding an unconfirmed number of people." One reporter described "a terrifying massacre and unspeakable scenes" and stating, "Dozens of displaced, sick and wounded people were buried alive". A man stated his 25-year-old son had been buried alive by IDF bulldozers at Kamal Adwan and in the same report the IDF was accused of necroviolence by running over corpses with a bulldozer. A video purporting to be footage of the incident circulated but France24 reported that the video was unrelated to the hospital siege. Director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, Munir al-Bursh, claims to have been shot at by Israeli forces while giving a press conference in front of the hospital, and that Israeli forces arrested 70 medical professionals.

Israel claims that the hospital was used to shelter terrorists, arguing that this invalidated the protection provided by the Geneva Conventions. Israel claims to have arrested 80 Hamas operatives in the base and had found weapons in the location. Staff reported the Israeli troops shooting at doctors and setting dogs to maul handicapped patients.

Detention and interrogation of hospital director

The hospital's director, Ahmed Kahlout, was arrested following the IDF's takeover of the hospital. Following an interrogation by the Israel Defense Forces, the Israeli military reported that he had confessed that the hospital was being used as a military operations center. He is reported to have said that he joined Hamas in 2010 at the equivalent rank of a brigadier general and that many hospital staff members, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, and others, also served as members of Hamas's al-Qassam brigades. According to Kahlout, Hamas concealed weapons within the hospital and integrated its operations into its functions.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that "Kahlot’s confessions were extracted under the use of force, coercion, torture and intimidation." The Ministry of Health said that Kahlout works for the Military Medical Services, a branch of the Ministry of the Interior and that the rank of brigadier general was part of the ranking system used by the Interior Ministry.

May 2024

In May 2024, Israel bombed the vicinity of the hospital, which the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on 19 May was "deeply worrisome". Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on 21 May that the hospital had been attacked four times in the prior twenty four hours. The same day, the hospital was evacuated, though patients connected to machines were unable to be evacuated. Medics stated on 22 May that missiles hit the hospital's emergency department. On 24 May, Israeli forces massed outside the hospital entrance, leading the hospital's head of nursing to state, "It is considered practically, because it is besieged, not operational". The hospital was hit twice by artillery. On 25 May, the head of pediatrics stated Israeli forces were still surrounding the hospital. Upon Israel's withdrawal from the Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency stated that the Israeli military had destroyed the hospital's main electrical generators. In August 2024, officials at Kamal Adwan Hospital warned that the hospital was at risk of closure due to lack of fuel and medicine, putting 11 children at risk of death.

October and November 2024

In October 2024 during the siege of Northern Gaza, the Israeli military ordered the complete evacuation of the Kamal Adwan Hospital within 24 hours. Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital's director, said the hospital would remain in service, stating, "We have babies and newborns that are in the ICU. Even if we can evacuate a few patients, we cannot leave the hospital because there is no other hospital that is providing services and treatment to children". As Israel's deadline for evacuation, the Israeli army was reported to be advancing on the hospital while "committing massacres against civilians". On 24 October 2024, the hospital director stated the Israeli military was committing "deliberate murder." He stated, "There are more than 15 cases that need surgeries that we cannot perform in the hospital".

On 24 October 2024, video showed Israeli tanks firing on the hospital. On 25 October, Israel raided the hospital. The Palestinian health ministry stated 600 patients, companions, and staff were trapped. The following day, the World Health Organization stated that while the hospital was still under siege, it had regained contact with its employees there, stating that four employees were injured, 44 health workers had been detained, and four ambulances were damaged. The Gaza Ministry of Health stated that Israeli forces had detained all male medical staff. On 27 October, Dr. Khalil Daqran stated only one medical staff remained in the entire hospital, and that Israeli forces had set parts of the hospital on fire, destroyed its entrances, and demolished walls. On 28 October, the IDF said that it captured 100 Hamas militants during the raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital. Both local medics and Hamas denied there was any militant presence at the hospital. Later that day, the IDF withdrew from the hospital.

Following the raid, the Gaza Ministry of Health stated, "Two children have died in the intensive care unit after the hospital's generators failed and the oxygen station was targeted". One of the two remaining doctors at the hospital warned that "patients and the injured are strewn all over the hospital floor". Officials stated one doctor had been killed by an Israeli drone. The W.H.O. stated they had continued with patient evacuations, as Kamal Adwan's building was damaged, four ambulances were destroyed, and patients needed medical supplies, food, and water. On 31 October, the UN stated a bombing on the hospital's third floor had destroyed critical medical supplies. On 4 November 2024, the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote that shortly after a WHO mission, a reported attack on the third floor injured six child patients. The same day, the health ministry stated that there were "many" injuries amongst patients and staff following Israel "violently bombard" the hospital.

On 30 November 2024, the head of the Intensive Care Unit, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlout, was killed.

December 2024

On 6 December 2024, the IDF conducted a "series of airstrikes on the northern and western sides of the hospital," which were followed with "heavy and direct gunfire," according to the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital. At least 30 people were killed by Israeli bombing, and another 20 were left injured. According to the World Health Organization, Israel issued "no warning" prior to the Israeli storming and strikes.

Reactions

Palestinian health minister Mai al-Kaila called for a probe into Israeli actions at Kamal Adwan. The Council on American–Islamic Relations called for a United Nations international probe. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated WHO was appalled at the hospital's "effective destruction". The UN Human Rights Office called for an investigation.

See also

• Attacks on health facilities during the Israel–Hamas war
• Al-Shifa Hospital siege

References

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• Beit Lahia in the Israel–Hamas war
• 2023 in the Gaza Strip
• 2024 in the Gaza Strip
• Attacks on hospitals during the Israel–Hamas war
• Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war
• Sieges of the Israel–Hamas war
• Gaza Strip humanitarian crisis
• Siege of North Gaza