North Gaza's last major health facility now out of service following raid

A Palestinian man sits mourning relatives killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Maghazi refugee camp, at Al-Aqsa Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, December 28, 2024. 

The last remaining major health facility in north Gaza is now out of service following a raid by the Israeli forces, the World Health Organisation has warned.

Kamal Adwan Hospital has been under repeated attack since October and the WHO said it is “appalled” to see this latest raid. This has “undone” its efforts to keep hospital care going.

“With Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals entirely out of service, and Al-Awda Hospital barely able to function, and severely damaged due to recent airstrikes, the healthcare lifeline for those in North Gaza is reaching a breaking point,” the WHO warned on Saturday.

It said hospitals have become battlegrounds again, and called for urgent supports to ensure these hospitals can become functional again.

“The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on North Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk,” the health body warned.

Reports the WHO has received indicate some parts of Kamal Adwan Hospital were severely damaged during the raid on Friday, including critical areas such as the laboratory, surgical unit, operations theatre and the medical store.

The engineering and maintenance department was also damaged.

The WHO raised concerns at reports indicating 12 patients and a female healthcare worker were forced to evacuate to a different destroyed hospital. It said this Indonesian Hospital is so damaged it is not possible to provide healthcare there.

Most of the staff, stable patients and their companions were moved to a nearby location.

“Additionally, some people were reportedly stripped and forced to walk toward southern Gaza,” the WHO said.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is now empty, it said on Saturday.

This follows the evacuation on Friday evening of 15 critical patients, 50 caregivers and 20 health workers to the Indonesian Hospital. This is despite the lack of necessary equipment and supplies to provide adequate care, the WHO also said. 

“The movement and treatment of these critical patients under such conditions pose grave risks to their survival,” it said in a statement.

The WHO is planning an urgent mission to the Indonesian Hospital on Sunday to move those patients to Gaza city.

Since October it has verified at least 50 attacks on health around the hospital.

“This week, bombardments in its vicinity reportedly killed 50 people, including five health workers from Kamal Adwan Hospital,” the WHO said.

“Despite the increasingly dire needs for emergency and trauma services and supplies, only ten out of 21 WHO missions to Kamal Adwan have been partially facilitated between early October and December,” it added.

It could only deliver 45, 000 litres of fuel as well as medical supplies, blood, and food. Some 114 patients along with 123 companions were transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital.

However efforts to deploy international emergency medical teams has been repeatedly denied, it said.