Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The head of the World Health Organization has called for an end to violence in hospitals in Gaza.
“Hospitals in Gaza have also become battlegrounds and health is at great risk,” he said. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
His warning came as the last besieged hospital in northern Gaza, Kamal Adwan, was captured and forcibly evacuated by Israeli forces on Friday and two hospitals in Gaza City were attacked on Sunday. The military said the two sites were being used as control centers for Hamas.
Dr Tedros also joined rights groups and family members who are demanding the immediate release of Kamal Adwan’s chief, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who was arrested by Israeli forces.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that its hospital was a “safe haven” for Hamas and that the army had killed about 20 “terrorists” and arrested 240 others during the operation. It added that Dr Abu Safiya was among those questioned and was “suspected to be a Hamas terrorist”.
The army did not testify on the charges, which Hamas called “false”.
The US-based MedGlobal condemned the arrest of Dr Abu Safiya, who was the chief doctor in Gaza, “not only unjustly” but also “a violation of international humanitarian law, which supports the protection of medical workers in conflict zones”.
Dr Abu Safiya’s family said they are worried about his health, saying that he is still recovering from serious injuries after last month’s attack and may be suffering from cold because he was forced to take off his clothes.
Hamas also dismissed Israel’s claims as “false”.
Dr Tedros said Kamal Adwan was out of work after the attack and the most seriously ill patients were being transferred to a “defunct” hospital in Indonesia, which he warned was badly damaged and underpowered.
“Amidst the unrest in northern Gaza, WHO and its partners today provided medical and sanitation assistance, food and water to an Indonesian hospital and transferred 10 patients to al-Shifa hospital. [in Gaza City],” he said.
“Four patients were arrested during the evacuation. We urge Israel to ensure that their medical needs and rights are respected.”
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said one of the arrested patients was in critical condition, and seven patients and 10 medical staff remained at the Indonesian hospital.
The Israeli army launched a major offensive in the northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun on October 6, saying it was preventing Hamas from regrouping there. The UN says the area is virtually surrounded and humanitarian aid has been largely denied by Israeli forces for more than 11 weeks.
Dr Tedros also said al-Ahli Hospital and al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Gaza City “were also subjected to violence” and were all destroyed.
On Sunday, seven people were killed and others seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike on the top floor of al-Wafa hospital, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defense.
The Israeli military said the strikes targeted Hamas fighters who use the building as a command and control center. It added that the building was not a hospital at the time.
But a witness told the BBC that inside the hospital there are patients and medical staff.
The fourth-year medical student said he was in the hospital with his friends, preparing to take an exam, when the bomb went off.
“There was a lot of smoke and we almost suffocated. The glass of the broken windows fell on us. We hid under the tables and then we ran away,” he added.
“As we were going down the stairs, we saw patients in wheelchairs, some carried. Our professor suffered a head injury and was bleeding – some of his colleagues were slightly injured.”
The injured were taken to al-Ahli hospital, which was apparently hit by Israeli shelling earlier on Sunday.
Videos posted online appeared to show extensive damage to a building in the area.
The Israeli military has not commented on the reports.
A refugee man who lives near al-Ahli hospital told BBC Arabic that he fears the Israeli army will be next.
“If they surround us here, where can we go?” “They have bombed all the houses, schools and hospitals. There is no safe place for us to run to.”
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s actions in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were captured.
More than 45,540 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the region’s health ministry.
