Official announcements from governments or international organizations

Israel Closes Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza After 136 Attacks on 27 Facilities, UN Warns of War Crimes

Dec 31, 2024, 03:44 PM

The Israeli military has decided to permanently close Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, citing security concerns and alleging that the facility was used as a Hamas terror base. This closure has left hundreds of patients and staff without medical services, forcing them to be evacuated to another hospital. The decision comes amidst a broader pattern of Israeli attacks on Gaza's healthcare infrastructure, which the United Nations has condemned as potentially amounting to war crimes. According to a UN Human Rights report, Israel conducted at least 136 attacks on 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities in Gaza between October 2023 and June 2024, severely impacting the region's healthcare system and pushing it to the brink of collapse. The report also criticized Israel's claims that these facilities were used for military purposes by Palestinian armed groups as vague and unsupported by sufficient evidence. The World Health Organization has described the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital as part of the systematic dismantling of the health system in northern Gaza, with dire consequences for the local population. The UN report highlighted that the Israeli army likely used 2,000-pound bombs on Gaza hospitals, resulting in the deaths of over 500 medical staff and more than 45,000 Palestinians. WHO's Margaret Harris emphasized the deliberate nature of these attacks, while Kamal Adwan Hospital's director, Hussam Abu Safiya, was detained during the raid.