Israel’s troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory’s health ministry said on Tuesday.
The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip’s few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.
Depopulating Gaza
Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital – Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia – is targeting Hamas militants.
A statement from the Israeli military said the Indonesian Hospital was being used by fighters to launch attacks against Israeli troops and that it “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, medical personnel, and patients from the area both before and during the operation”.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Israeli Troops
Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.
He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops.
Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital since Monday, medics said.
Officials at the three hospitals have refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on Oct. 5.
Medical Supplies?
Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies and fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions, and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pump,s and parts of the building.
An Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold.
“Kamal Adwan is at the heart of the most complex fighting in Jabaliya,” he said. “We are being very careful.”
(with inputs from Reuters)
