Gaza City, January 5 (RHC)-- The Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza is no longer treating patients or wounded, the Gaza Ministry of Health said. The ministry noted that the North Gaza governorate has three public hospitals, Kamal Adwan, Beit Hanoon and the Indonesian Hospital, all of which have been taken out of service by Israel’s offensive.
On Friday, Israeli soldiers surrounded the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, where many displaced Palestinians have sought shelter.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya was cleared of patients and staff and it was severely burned by the Israeli army last week. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital, was also arrested by Israeli forces during their raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya last week.
On Saturday, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X that the agency had received “no updates on the safety and wellbeing” of the 51-year old Abu Safia.City, Janua
A separate evacuation order has also been issued to the al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, according to Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, who was reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
Healthcare in the Gaza Strip has been pushed to the brink of collapse amid repeated attacks by Israeli forces, including last week’s destruction of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. Both the Indonesian and al-Awda Hospitals have been damaged due to repeated Israeli attacks since October 2023.
Mahmoud said that many of those being treated or seeking shelter at the two hospitals had come from the destroyed Kamal Adwan Hospital. “We are talking about people in very critical condition,” he said. “They need to be attached to medical equipment, and some of them have sustained severe injuries.” Images from the Indonesian Hospital show children among the severely injured patients.
Mahmoud also reported that Israeli authorities have blocked “any sort of coordination” between hospital staff and independent humanitarian organisations such as the Red Crescent.
Israel has defended its raids on medical facilities by saying they are being used by Palestinian armed groups, but the UN has frequently questioned the veracity of the claims.
On Friday, Israel’s UN ambassador in Geneva, Daniel Meron, posted on social media a letter he sent to the UN and the World Health Organization, saying that the raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital a week ago was “triggered by irrefutable evidence” that Palestinian armed groups were using the hospital. He said Israeli forces had taken “extraordinary measures to protect civilian life while acting on credible intelligence”.
