Israeli army sets fire to north Gaza’s last functioning hospital

By The Cradle

Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on 27 December, evacuating people at gunpoint and setting the facility ablaze after brutal attacks on the hospital’s vicinity.

At least 50 people have been killed around the besieged medical facility since Thursday evening.

“The storming of Kamal Adwan Hospital … by the criminal Zionist occupation, and forcing the medical staff, patients, wounded and displaced persons inside it to leave at gunpoint, after the intensification of the barbaric shelling of the hospital’s surroundings last night, which led to the martyrdom of more than 50 people, including five medical staff; is a war crime,” a Hamas statement said.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising out of the hospital early on Thursday as a result of the Israeli arson attack inside the facility.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli troops ordered patients and medical staff to take off their clothing and forced them out of the hospital in the extremely cold weather. Some were told to evacuate to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, which is also under Israeli siege and attack.

Footage showed barely clothed Palestinians walking in line with their hands up after being forced out of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Israeli troops have stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital several times. The hospital, which has lost highly essential equipment as a result of non-stop attacks, is one of three hospitals in northern Gaza that are under constant assault – the other two being the Indonesian Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital. Both are on their last legs.

The Indonesian Hospital has been left in ruins as a result of recent attacks.

At least six medical staff members were injured at Al-Awda Hospital on Thursday as a result of the explosion of booby-trapped barrels placed around the facility by Israeli army robots, a tactic used against all hospitals in the north.

Tel Aviv has stepped up its attacks and total siege – particularly in north Gaza – where over 100,000 people have been forcibly expelled and thousands killed in a few months.

This comes as part of the unofficial implementation of the Generals’ Plan, which intends to make northern Gaza uninhabitable through mass destruction, killing, and expulsion. Israel’s goal is to completely empty out north Gaza and transform the area into an isolated military zone.

Israel’s war against the health sector in northern Gaza aims to make the area unlivable. Israel is using collective punishment against the civilian population in the northern strip in order to starve out the resistance.

Israel’s military is inching closer towards the full implementation of the controversial Generals’ Plan in northern Gaza, and will work to prevent the return of displaced Palestinians to the area even after the extermination and siege campaign in the strip comes to an end, Israeli news site Ynet reported on 17 December.

The report said Hamas needs “the presence of the Gazan population” in the north in order to survive.