Wounded Palestinians describe harsh treatment by Israeli soldiers at Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital

AP , Tuesday 31 Dec 2024

Wounded Palestinians who Israeli soldiers expelled from northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital over the weekend described harrowing conditions where they were forced to strip down to their underwear in cold winter weather for hours.

Gaza
A wounded Palestinian arrives in the back of an ambulance at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, after patients were expelled from the Kamal Adwan Hospital. AFP

 

"They surrounded the hospital at 4 a.m. and burned all the buildings around the hospital," said Wissam Warsh, a 45-year-old father of five who spent almost a week at Kamal Adwan receiving treatment. He said soldiers made the hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, bring all the patients outside before detaining him.

"They told him over the loudspeaker that he had 10 minutes to evacuate them, and they began firing shells around the hospital as a pressure tactic," Warsh said. He and other patients were recuperating at Ahli hospital in Gaza City, where he spoke to The Associated Press from a hospital bed on Sunday.

Other patients said the Israeli army refused to provide them with food or water.

"The most difficult thing was that we were in the cold and winter and we could not find clothes, in addition to the moments of insults. All the moments were difficult," said Ramadan al-Aswad, who was a patient at the hospital.

In the early hours of Friday, the Israeli military launched a major raid on the hospital, calling it "one of the largest operations" since the Israeli war on Gaza began in October.

The raid ended the following day, with over 350 people detained, including medical staff, patients, and Abu Safiyeh. The 51-year-old paediatrician has been missing since.

The World Health Organization said Kamal Adwan has been out of service since, crippling the healthcare system in northern Gaza, where tens of thousands remain under continuous Israeli bombardment.

His family believes he is being detained at the Sde Teiman military base in the Negev desert, near Gaza.

Staff at Kamal Adwan say the hospital has been struck multiple times in the past three months as Israeli forces continue their deadly assault on northern Gaza, described by health workers as a "genocide within a genocide." Israel has also imposed a tight siege, effectively blocking food and medical aid to the areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya.

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