On Friday, the Israeli occupation forces committed a new crime against civilians and medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, as they set fire to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, which is the only hospital that provided health services to about 400,000 people in that area.
The IOF surrounded the hospital and forced patients, medical staff and journalists to evacuate it at gunpoint.
The operation included firing shells and live bullets at the building, which caused a fire in the operating rooms, laboratory, ambulance, emergency and reception departments.
Local sources reported that the IOF forced those in the hospital, around 350 people, to take off their clothes in the bitter cold, then took them to an unknown destination.
This direct targeting of Kamal Adwan Hospital, which houses 170 medical personnel, is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, specifically the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit targeting health facilities and medical personnel during conflicts. The attack also exacerbates the health crisis in the Gaza Strip, where residents of the northern Gaza Strip have been left without any medical services.
Deaths of the freezing cold
The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the death of Palestinian nurse Ahmed Al-Zaharna due to the severe cold inside his tent in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis.
Al-Zaharna is one of the staff working at the European Gaza Hospital, which highlights the challenges facing medical workers.
Palestinian medical sources also confirmed the death of three infants on Thursday, due to the cold and low temperatures, in light of the ongoing crisis of displacement and lack of shelter.
The Gaza Strip has been going through an ongoing genocide by the Israeli occupation for more than 14 months, amid a stifling siege and widespread destruction of infrastructure.
The Israeli crimes against civilians and medical facilities in the Gaza Strip require urgent action from the international community to take decisive measures to stop the war of extermination committed by the occupation and hold those responsible accountable.
