On the pretext of finding Hamas fighters, Israeli troops stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only hospital operational in northern Gaza, forcefully evacuated the staff and patients, and set it on fire.
The Health Ministry reported that Israeli forces struck the hospital a day earlier, killing five medical staff members. Kamal Adwan Hospital has endured multiple attacks over the past three months as part of the ongoing conflict. Hospital officials refuted Israeli claims that the facility was being used by Hamas fighters, assertions that the Israeli military has repeated but not substantiated with evidence.
On Friday, troops reportedly forced medical personnel and patients to gather in the hospital courtyard, subjecting them to invasive searches in cold weather before some were relocated to unknown locations. Others were transferred to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, which itself had been rendered inoperative following an earlier Israeli raid. The Health Ministry stated that troops set fires in various parts of Kamal Adwan, including its laboratory and surgery department.
Of the 75 patients and 180 staff present at Kamal Adwan before the raid, 25 patients and 60 staff members reportedly remained in the hospital after the attack. The hospital's ability to operate has been severely compromised, exacerbating the already dire healthcare situation in northern Gaza.
The Israeli military stated that its operations in the vicinity targeted Hamas infrastructure and fighters but did not provide further details. Mass detentions are a common feature of such raids, with men often stripped to their underwear during security screenings. Observers have noted that armed Hamas personnel in civilian clothing have been present in other hospitals, controlling access to resources and areas.
Since the offensive began in October, northern Gaza has been largely sealed off, with areas such as Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya heavily impacted. Tens of thousands of residents have been displaced, but many remain in the region. Food and humanitarian aid have been severely restricted, with only a handful of deliveries permitted by Israeli troops between 1 and 23 December.
The hospital’s plight is part of a broader collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system under relentless bombardment and offensives. Rights groups have raised alarms over the targeting of medical facilities, warning that evacuating Kamal Adwan would leave thousands without access to critical care. Earlier petitions to Israel’s High Court of Justice to halt military actions against the hospital have yielded no results.
The ongoing conflict has inflicted catastrophic losses on Gaza’s population, with more than 45,400 Palestinians killed, over half of whom were women and children, according to the Health Ministry. The offensive, launched in response to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, has also displaced over 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, forcing them into overcrowded tent camps.