The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said early Monday that hospitals in Gaza “have once again become a battlefield and the health system is under serious threat.”
Ambulances transport injured Palestinians from Kamal Adwan Hospital to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on December 28, 2024.
Omar Al-qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
Ghebreyesus said the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia is “out of service” following an Israeli attack, weeks of encirclement and shelling.
Israeli forces raided the compound on Friday and forcibly evacuated all remaining patients and staff. The Israel Defense Forces said it had arrested 240 suspected militants, including hospital director Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya. The IDF said the hospital was a “command center” for “military operations” around Hamas.
Ghebreyesus said that Safiya’s whereabouts are unknown. We demand his immediate release.
Kamal Adwan patients were taken to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, both of which have repeatedly reported Israeli attacks. The latter “is inherently out of order,” said Ghebreyesus.
“Seven patients along with 15 caregivers and health workers remain in the badly damaged Indonesian Hospital, which lacks the capacity to provide care,” he added.
The IDF arrested four patients as Kamal Adwan was taken out of the hospital, the WHO chief said.
Two other facilities — Al-Ahli Hospital and Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Gaza City — were also attacked and damaged on Monday, Ghebreyesus said.
“We repeat: stop the attacks on hospitals,” he wrote. “The people of Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health care. Ceasefire!”
