Israeli army burns north Gaza hospital with medics, patients inside

The Israeli army set fire to the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza leaving the fate of medics and patients inside uncertain as all communication with the outside world has been lost due to the ongoing siege.

As per reports, Israeli soldiers stormed the  the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, torturing patients and medical staff, forcibly evicting hundreds of civilians and injured individuals, and stripping them naked.

The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed that it has been unable to establish contact with the medics trapped inside the facility.

The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Husam Abu Safiya, along with other medical staff, was  kidnapped by the Israeli army. Their whereabouts and safety remain unknown.

"The occupation forces are inside the hospital now, and they are burning it," said Munir al-Bursh, the director of the Gaza Health Ministry, in a statement.

Authorities in Gaza reported that the surgical department, laboratory, and a storage facility inside the hospital have been burned, with the fire spreading throughout the medical complex.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, “the operating and surgery departments, laboratory, maintenance, ambulance units, and warehouses have been completely burned.” Generators that could provide power during the communications blackout were also destroyed.

Witnesses on the scene told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army carried out field executions within the hospital premises.

At least 350 people, including 75 patients and 185 medical staff, were forcibly displaced from the hospital and moved to a nearby school shelter.

"The [Israeli] occupation army is forcibly transferring patients and the injured at gunpoint to the Indonesian Hospital, which lacks medical supplies, water, medicines, and even electricity and generators," the ministry said.

Al Jazeera reported that northern Gaza has been almost entirely destroyed by Israeli forces to create a buffer zone in the area.

The Israeli army has continued its attacks on hospitals under the pretext of targeting Hamas cells and operatives, without providing substantial evidence for these claims.

Kamal Adwan Hospital has come under repeated attack since the military offensive in Gaza began on October 23.

Director Hussam Abu Safiya had been pressured and threatened multiple times to abandon the hospital but refused to leave, staying to care for patients.

His son was killed by the Israeli army during the siege while Safiya remained inside with his patients.

Hamas condemned Israel and the United States for partnering in the genocide in Gaza. On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on a building opposite Kamal Adwan Hospital claimed the lives of 50 Palestinians, including medical workers.

The overall Palestinian death toll since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza has reached at least 45,436 with more than 108,038  wounded. Thousands more remain trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.