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Israeli forces raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, burning large sections and ordering dozens of patients and hundreds of others to leave, officials said.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli attacks killed at least 25 people, including 15 people in one house in Gaza City, medics and the civil aid service said.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said contact had been lost with staff at the hospital in Beit Lahiya, which has been under heavy pressure from Israeli forces for weeks.
“The occupying forces are now in the hospital and they are burning it,” ministry director Munir Al-Bursh said in a statement.
The Israeli army said it had tried to limit harm to civilians and had “facilitated the safe evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel ahead of the operation”, but gave no details.
In a statement, it said fighters from the Hamas group, which previously controlled the Gaza Strip, had operated from the hospital throughout the conflict.
Youssef Abu El-Rish, the Hamas-appointed deputy health minister, said Israeli forces had set fire to the surgical ward and laboratory and a warehouse.
Like the Indonesian and Al-Awda hospitals, Kamal Advan has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces who have been attacking the northern edge of the Gaza Strip for weeks, Gaza medical personnel say.
Hundreds ordered to leave hospital
Bursh said the army had ordered 350 people to leave Kamal Adwan for a nearby school that was sheltering displaced families. They included 75 patients, their attendants and 185 medical staff.
Abu El-Rish said soldiers were transferring patients and medical staff to the Indonesian hospital, which had already been put out of action due to heavy damage and had been evacuated by Israeli forces a day earlier.
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Footage circulated on Arab media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed smoke billowing from Kamal Adwan’s compound.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and systematically demolished, fueling speculation that Israel intends to use the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.
Israel denies this, saying its campaign is to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
On Thursday, health officials said five medical personnel, including a pediatrician, were killed by Israeli fire near Kamal Adwan. The Israeli army said it was not aware of a strike at the hospital and that the report of the medic’s death would be investigated.
In a statement, Hamas blamed Israel and the United States for the fate of the hospital’s residents.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
The conflict was sparked by Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli counts.
