Israeli forces have raided a hospital in Gaza, ordering dozens of patients and hundreds of other people to evacuate, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry.
The ministry said it had lost contact with staff inside Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip.
“The occupation forces are inside the hospital now and they are burning it,” Munir al Bursh, the ministry’s director, said in a statement.
Israel’s military claimed the hospital “serves as a Hamas terrorist stronghold” and said it had made efforts to mitigate harm to civilians.
It said the military “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel prior to the operation”.
It added: “Kamal Adwan Hospital serves as a Hamas terrorist stronghold in northern Gaza, from which terrorists have been operating throughout the war.”
Youssef Abu el Rish, the Hamas-appointed deputy health minister, said Israeli forces had set fire to the surgical department and laboratory and a storehouse.
“Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified member of staff said in an audio message from the hospital posted on the social media accounts of its director Hossam Abu Safiya.
The staffer said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen. “There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she said.
Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked Kamal Adwan, as well as the Indonesia and Al Awda hospitals, during their campaign in the northern edge of Gaza, according to Palestinian medical staff.
Soldiers were transferring patients and medical staff to the Indonesian Hospital, which had already been knocked out of action by heavy damage and had been evacuated by Israeli forces on Thursday, Mr Abu el Rish said.
Palestinians search for victims following an Israeli attack on the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital on Christmas Day. Pic: Getty Images
The army had ordered 350 people – including 75 patients and their companions, as well as 185 medical staff – to move to a nearby school sheltering displaced families, the health ministry’s Mr Bursh added.
Hamas-run Al Aqsa Television said hours after the raid, Israeli forces set the hospital on fire.
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Explosions seen over Gaza Strip
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Medical staff killed by Israeli fire
It comes after health officials said five medical staff, including a paediatrician, were killed by Israeli fire at Kamal Adwan Hospital on Thursday.
In a statement, Hamas said it held Israel and the US responsible for the fate of patients, injured people and medical staff inside the hospital.
More than 45,400 Palestinians killed in war, health ministry says
Meanwhile at least 25 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Friday, including 15 people in a single house in Gaza city, according to medics and the civil emergency service.
More than 45,400 people have been killed in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and at least 108,000 wounded, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
The war was sparked by Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on 7 October last year, when militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.