At least 29 killed in 'catastrophic' Israeli attack on north Gaza hospital

At least four medical staff among fatalities, hospital director says

People check the damage outside the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, following an Israeli strike, on December 6. AFP

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Israeli attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza killed at least 29 people, including four medical staff, the facility's director told The National on Friday, adding that the bodies of those killed were scattered in streets nearby.

The attack began with a series of air strikes on the western and northern sides of the hospital, accompanied by gunfire and drone strikes, before Israeli forces stormed the medical complex.

"Last night, approximately 30 people, including four medical staff, were killed in and around Kamal Adwan Hospital, with dozens more injured," Dr Hossam Abu Safiya said. "The situation last night was catastrophic," he recounted.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal confirmed the toll, saying that "at least 29 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the northern Gaza Strip since dawn on Friday as a result of the continuing Israeli shelling around Kamal Adwan hospital".

Dr Abu Safiya said troops entered the hospital and ordered all staff, patients and displaced people into the courtyard before allowing them back inside hours later. Some staff, including the Indonesian emergency team, were ordered to leave for good.

Kamal Adwan Hospital has repeatedly come under attack by Israeli forces, particularly since early October when northern Gaza was placed under siege.

"The assault began after the hospital was surrounded. Two detained Palestinians were used as human shields by the occupation forces, who entered the premises and demanded, through loudspeakers, that everyone in the hospital gather in the courtyard," Dr Abu Safiya recounted.

The National could not independently verify his account and the Israeli army was not available for comment.

Local journalist Mohammed Al Sharif was at the hospital during the attack. "The assault began abruptly as military vehicles advanced swiftly, encircling the hospital. While the vehicles did not enter the gates, drones fired heavily and continuously at the hospital," he told The National.

Mr Al Sharif said "two individuals" had entered the hospital alongside the forces but did not specify who they were.

The Israeli army advanced on the hospital under cover of gunfire, an operation that lasted for several hours, he added. "During the operation, Israeli forces bombed multiple homes near the hospital, killing residents as buildings collapsed on top of them," Mr Al Sharif said.

"The morning revealed the full scale of the Israeli atrocity," he added. "We saw countless bodies lying in the streets and the hospital courtyard, along with many injured individuals and extensive destruction."

The latest strikes came just days after the UN's World Health Organisation said an emergency medical team had reached the hospital for the first time in 60 days. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, told reporters from Geneva he had "extremely concerning information" from Kamal Adwan.

"Panic caused by the bombing and shelling, along with the panicked crowd inside the hospital" caused Gazans and the team to leave the hospital despite there being "no official evacuation order," he said.

Since the start of the Israeli operation in the besieged north in early October, the hospital has run out of most supplies, including fuel.

The Israeli army says its operation in the far north aims to keep Hamas militants from regrouping there. Hamas has repeatedly denied it operates in hospitals or other civilian infrastructure.