Hospitals in northern Gaza are in dire situations amid repeated Israeli attacks, blockades and detentions that are depriving thousands of lives of much needed medical services.
In recent days, Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, arresting patients and medical staff and blocking any medical or humanitarian supplies from entering the hospital.
As a result, the hospital is no longer capable of providing any medical service.
Kamal Adwan is not the only hospital targeted by the Israeli military. The entire healthcare system in Gaza is on the brink of collapse due to bombing, blockade, and targeting of medical staff.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it tried to deliver medical aid to hospitals in the north, but ended up in failure.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly tried over the past two weeks to reach hospitals in the Northern Governorate, specifically Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and Awda, and deliver vital medical supplies, including food, to patients and wounded there, as well as medical teams. Unfortunately, we were unable to do that, but we were able to deliver some of these humanitarian supplies to hospitals in Gaza City, including Al-Shifa Medical Complex and Al-Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital, which receive some medical referrals from hospitals in northern Gaza. According to international humanitarian law, hospitals, medical facilities and their personnel enjoy special protection that must be provided, and this is a shared responsibility of all parties involved in this conflict," said Hisham Mhanna, spokesperson for the ICRC in Gaza.
The ICRC described the situation in northern Gaza as tragic, especially after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for civilians in the north, forcing them to leave their homes.
"Since the evacuation orders were issued for civilians in the Northern Governorate of the Gaza Strip, including hospitals, civilians there have been facing the horrors of things and have been placed in more tragic humanitarian conditions than they were before the orders were issued, especially hospitals that are now on the verge of collapse and complete closure in light of the continued restrictions imposed on basic medical supplies necessary to continue providing life-saving medical services, and with the ongoing fighting and the continued flow of injured and sick people to these hospitals under these circumstances. This will later translate into more lives that medical teams will not be able to save," he said.
Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan described the targeting of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the arrest of its medical staff, and the blockage of aid delivery as "war crime and grave violation of humanity.
Northern Gaza hospitals under dire situations amid Israeli attacks
Northern Gaza hospitals under dire situations amid Israeli attacks
