WHO chief: Attack on northern Gaza hospital ‘deeply disturbing’

The World Health Organization said on Friday it was deeply concerned by reports that Israeli forces had attacked the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media : “Since reports this morning that Kamal Adwan Hospital was raided, we have lost contact with the staff there. This development is deeply disturbing given the number of patients receiving medical care and those who have taken refuge there.

Northern Gaza has been in the midst of an intense military campaign, with thousands of civilians cut off from humanitarian aid and protection and facing shortages of food and other necessities.

Patients and displaced persons

Tedros said Kamal Adwan Hospital was already overwhelmed with nearly 200 patients – many with horrific trauma cases – while hundreds of displaced people were seeking shelter at the hospital.

The World Health Organization’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, Piper Korn, expressed deep concern and stressed that hospitals should not be militarized.

Medical assistance mission

The raid came a day after WHO and partners managed to reach Kamal Adwan Hospital amid ongoing hostilities in the north. The complex mission lasted more than 20 hours and involved two trucks loaded with supplies and fuel, and five ambulances.

The team transferred 23 patients and 26 caregivers to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. They also provided Kamel Adwan Hospital with 10,000 litres of fuel, 180 units of blood, and trauma and surgical supplies for 1,600 operations.

The hospital also received a variety of medications to support approximately 5,000 patients, including infusions, anesthesia, antibiotics and assistive devices for more than 100 patients.

Damage and chaos

Pieperkorn provided what he witnessed.

“At a checkpoint near Kamel Adwan, thousands of women and children, carrying some belongings, dragged their exhausted bodies out of the area towards Salahuddin and Gaza City,” he said.

He said the team saw a chaotic scene at Kamal Adwan Hospital; at the time of his last visit, there were 75 to 100 patients inside.

“Right now, we have probably over 200 patients,” he said. “The emergency room is overwhelmed and we are seeing many patients coming in, many with horrific trauma.”