Injured Palestinians receive treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 16, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Beit Lahia, December 17 (RHC)-- Israeli bulldozers have demolished tents of displaced Palestinians outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip, “burying people alive” inside them, according to a report.

Video footage showed mangled tents and belongings of Palestinians at the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, north of Gaza, on Saturday.  The report said at least 20 bodies now lie in the yard.  “Dozens of displaced, sick, and wounded people were buried alive.  The occupation [Israeli] bulldozers trampled the tents of the displaced people in the hospital yard and brutally crushed them,” Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif reported. 

“A terrifying massacre and unspeakable scenes.  What the Israeli occupation did inside Kamal Adwan Hospital is a horrific crime against citizens and medical staff,” Sharif said in a post on X.   "The hospital is completely destroyed, and the Israeli occupation forces are targeting anything that moves in its vicinity,” said Al-Jazeera correspondent Imad Zaqout.

Following the report, the Geneva-based independent organization, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, called for an international investigation into the horrific act.  The Observatory said in a statement that it has “received testimonies and complaints from medical and media teams confirming that Israeli bulldozers buried Palestinians alive in the hospital yard before they withdrew from it this morning.”

It said at least one of the bodies could be seen amid the piles of sand.  “Citizens confirmed that he was injured before he was buried and killed.”

The Observatory also indicated that Israeli tanks approached the hospital about 9 days ago and Israeli army snipers mounted high buildings and began shooting at anyone moving in the area.

The hospital remains under siege for the ninth day in a row, with the regime’s forces shelling the medical center.
"The atrocities committed by the Israeli forces at Kamal Adwan Hospital are an extension of the Israeli army’s repeated attacks on facilities, crews, and medical transports as part of a systematic policy since last October 7, aimed at destroying the health care system in the Gaza Strip, which constitutes a war crime under the rules of international humanitarian law," the Observatory said.

On Monday, Ahmed al-Kahlout, head of the Kamal Adwan Hospital said that Israeli troops bombed the maternity ward, resulting in the deaths of two mothers along with their newborn babies.   The Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday that twelve babies are trapped in incubators at the hospital, as the regime’s forces continue to besiege the medical center.

The situation at the Kamal Adwan Hospital is “catastrophic,” according to a Palestinian journalist, who said at least 3,000 people had sought refuge in the complex.

According to media reports, Israeli forces have stormed the hospital several times during these days and turned its roofs and buildings into military barracks, imposing a siege on those inside and depriving them of access to food and water.