How Israel has besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza for weeks with total impunity
On Israel's relentless attack on Gaza's medical infrastructure.
The first Israeli attack on a hospital in Gaza during the course of the ongoing genocide was on the tenth day of their barbarism. Their target was the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in northern Gaza. The attack resulted in 471 deaths, including patients and those taking shelters in the hospital courtyard due to their houses being bombed in the days preceding the hospital attack. This act of Israeli terrorism produced the heart-wrenching video of a father in utter disbelief carrying what remained of his child in two grocery bags. There were also piles of corpses with missing body parts. Some of the doctors gave a press conference from the hospital surrounded by corpses from the attack, appealing to the world to stop the carnage and protect hospitals which are given immunity in wars.
Fearing the fallout from such unhinged barbarism and the resulting images being broadcast to the world, the Israelis resorted to propaganda.
They blamed the destruction on a misfiring resistance rocket and even produced a supposed recording of resistance fighters discussing how they bombed the hospital by mistake. It turned out to be a case of bad hasbara as their lies were quickly debunked. Poor propaganda notwithstanding, it showed that the Israelis were mindful of the way their accelerating genocide was being perceived globally. And they were willing to mitigate the fallout. However, the Western leadership did nothing about the attack other than blaming the resistance.
Emboldened, the Israelis have since gone on to dismantle every single of the 36 hospitals in Gaza multiple times in broad daylight and all of it filmed on multiple cameras from multiple angles. Al Shifa, the biggest and what was considered to be the safest hospital in Gaza, was besieged by the Israeli occupation forces for nearly two weeks from March 18 to April 1. A day after the Israelis left, a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson gave a sobering assessment of the once state of the art hospital: “Al-Shifa has gone, it’s no longer able to function in any way, shape or form.”
Multiple mass graves were discovered in the hospital premises with hundreds of bodies dumped in them. Some had catheters still attached to them while some others were dressed in scrubs, indicating the victims were medical professionals.
Al-Shifa wasn’t unique in its barbaric predicament. The Israelis have turned many hospital courtyards into multiple mass graves from which 520 bodies had been retrieved by the first week of November. They know nothing will stop them. Ships and aircraft full of destructive weapons will continue to find their way into Tel Aviv for them to “finish the job” in Gaza for as long as it takes.
Seen in this light, the ongoing weeks-long siege of the barely-functioning Kamal Adwan Hospital — which had already been besieged thrice before — in Beit Lahia, north Gaza, doesn’t seem all that surprising. After all, it’s just another Gaza hospital for the genocidal Israelis to rampage through and kill as they please. We have seen so much unhinged barbarism since the beginning of this genocide that nothing really surprises anymore.
Yet, the ongoing Israeli terrorism in Kamal Adwan feels another level of dystopic.
The siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza — which has been completely cut off from the south as the Israelis embark on an extermination campaign in the north to make way for Jews-only settlements — began last month when the Israelis ordered complete evacuation of the facility within 48 hours on October 8. Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, said that the Israelis had reached out to him directly, “The military reached out to me directly with a clear threat, stating that by tomorrow all patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital must be evacuated, and the hospital, including its medical staff, must be cleared out. Otherwise, we will be putting ourselves in danger. This is an explicit threat.”
Subsequent to the threat, the Israelis started targeting the vicinity of the hospital with quadcopter drones and missile strikes — a modus operandi that has been consistent with their attacks on other hospitals during this genocide.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, on October 9.
The imminent danger to the hospital made explicit by the genocidal Israelis forced the hospital administration to transfer premature and newborn babies to another hospital on October 9.
From that day onward anyone attempting to enter or exit Kamal Adwan was being sniped and shot at by the Israeli occupation forces while sounds of relentless bombing could be heard clearly from the hospital. Subsequently, the hospital was declared out of service.
On October 11, the Gaza Media Office made an appeal to “the international community to intervene immediately and urgently, without delay, to save what can be saved” as the situation at the hospital became “catastrophic”:
Very urgent: The situation is catastrophic at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and the coming hours will be critical for the lives of many children in the intensive care unit due to the depletion of fuel and the occupation’s prevention of its delivery to hospitals in the north, as well as due to overcrowding and congestion.
ICU at Kamal Adwan Hospital, on October 11.
On October 16, the Gaza Media Office issued another sobering assessment of the state of Kamal Adwan Hospital with the situation deemed catastrophic for newborns and pregnant women:
The situation at Kamal Adwan Hospital, particularly in the neonatal unit, is in an unprecedented and dangerous state. This is the only neonatal unit in the northern Gaza governorate.
The unit is full of cases, and there are severe cases in the operating rooms. Even caesarean section surgeries are being performed in unsafe and dangerous conditions. Newborns urgently need intensive care.
On October 20, there was a horrific Israeli massacre in Beit Lahia that killed nearly 100 Palestinians. Those injured were rushed to Kamal Adwan among other hospitals in the north.
Dr. Hussam gave a snapshot of the challenges his colleagues were dealing with when it came to such relentless mass casualty events amidst an ongoing siege and continuous attacks on the hospital all in an attempt to stop it from functioning:
Large numbers of martyrs have been transferred to the hospital amid severe shortage of medical staff and supplies. Many of the injured are facing the risk of death due to the inability to treat them. The hospital’s surroundings are being subjected to shelling and direct gunfire. The occupation targeted the water tanks and the electricity network in the hospital.
Despite the unending hardships, Dr. Hussam remained steadfast as he gave a stream of heartbreaking updates.
On October 22, he gave another defiant statement:
We are being shot from all sides. The situation is catastrophic. They are killing people in the streets. We will not leave Kamal Adwan Hospital and we will not leave the injured.
The catastrophic state of Kamal Adwan Hospital after yet another Israeli massacre.
On October 24, the civil defence in Gaza announced its ceasing of operations in northern Gaza as its personnel were being continually attacked and their only vehicle to transport the injured and the martyred was destroyed by the Israelis. As the civil defence team became non-functional, it became even harder to rush the injured to the besieged hospitals and possibly snuffed out even more Palestinian lives.
On the same day, Dr. Hussam updated that the occupation was preventing the transfer of patients to other hospitals and preventing any aid from coming in to his hospital, which was under complete siege and had many of its staff arrested by the occupation:
What the occupation forces are committing is a deliberate murder. We do not have the capabilities to perform the surgeries that patients need, and most of the surgeons have been arrested.
The following day, attacks on the hospital became direct.
Hossam Shabat, one of the few remaining journalists in northern Gaza who was recently attacked and survived with injuries, shared an update:
The occupation army besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital and targeted its upper floors, which led to dozens of injuries.
Dr. Hussam and the journalists in northern Gaza continued to make appeals to the international community and humanitarian organisations throughout their besiegement, but their calls have fallen on deaf ears.
Dr. Hussam makes a desperate appeal to save his patients and the hospital.
On October 25, the day Dr. Hussam made his appeal, the occupation forces bombed the main oxygen station of the hospital, martyring several children and wounding many hospital staff. Further, they demanded all the patients (150 of whom were in critical condition) and the staff to gather in the hospital courtyard and then started attacking everyone.
The occupation forces then proceeded to do one of their trademarks during this genocide: strip everyone naked, march them to an open field and take them to torture chambers equipped with a ghastly assortment of torture devices.
Dr. Hussam was among those abducted by the occupation.
As the situation became dire, the Gaza Health Ministry made a desperate appeal to “all free people of the world” to come to the aid of the hospital:
We appeal to the free people of the world to do everything possible to save what can be saved in Kamal Adwan Hospital.
We do not understand how the world allows itself to stand by and watch the most heinous genocide and the most widespread systematic operation to destroy the health system and kill and arrest patients and medical staff without moving a finger.
Hamas and the Director-General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Munir Al-Barsh, issued appeals of their own, imploring the global community to do something about the catastrophic situation, but to no avail.
This was the last photo of Dr. Hussam before his abduction:
While dealing with the catastrophe at his hospital and his own abduction, Dr. Hussam also suffered a personal tragedy as the occupation killed his son, Ibrahim, in one of its barbaric campaigns in northern Gaza.
Dr. Hussam, the grief-stricken father, led the funeral of his martyred son, who had to be buried next to a hospital wall, such was the relentless barrage of Israeli strikes.
By the time the Israelis withdrew on October 26 after their campaign of terror at the hospital, this is what its surroundings looked like:
But their absence wasn’t for long.
The Zionist troops were back soon to terrorise those inside the hospital.
On October 28, Dr. Hussam gave another sobering update:
The hospital is completely surrounded and all medical staff have been arrested, except for me and another doctor.
The health system has completely collapsed and we are only providing first aid.
The following day, there was yet another massacre in Beit Lahia, killing nearly 80 people. Dr. Hussam, unable to handle the stream of new patients as a result of the massacre, made an appeal to doctors to reach his hospital in a bid to save patients:
We call on all surgeons to return to Kamal Adwan Hospital to try to save the wounded.
However, things were only to get worse for the north Gaza hospital as the Israelis on October 31 started directly attacking it, burning its equipment, and setting its third floor on fire.
Al Jazeera’s Anas Al-Sharif shared the following update from the hospital:
There are injuries among the staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital due to continuous shelling on the hospital.
Israeli occupation forces are targeting the desalination station for the dialysis unit, the engineering and maintenance department, and water tanks inside Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Israeli warplanes have bombed the third floor of Kamal Adwan Hospital, causing a fire in the medication storage, which included medical supplies received five days ago from the World Health Organization.
On November 3, there were more direct attacks on the hospital, causing extensive damage to it and terrorising the patients.
Dr. Hussam shared another update that would easily fit into a dystopian novel:
We were surprised that the third floor, which contains children, was directly bombed. A number of children were wounded from the shelling, including a serious injury.
Everything was targeted. It was as if Kamal Adwan Hospital itself is facing a genocide inside of it. Just as we bid farewell to WHO, they began bombing, shelling from every single corner, and we don’t know from where and when!
But this is no novel. This is as real as its gets in Gaza.
The Palestine Health Ministry made a potentially final distress call:
A distress call that may be the final one.
The occupation forces continue to heavily bombard and destroy Kamal Adwan Hospital, affecting all of its facilities.
There are numerous injuries among the medical staff and patients, and the medical teams are unable to move between the hospital departments or save their injured colleagues.
It appears that a decision has been made to execute all the staff who refused to evacuate the hospital.
On the day marking a month-long siege of Gaza, a relentless Dr. Hussam called for immediate action from the international institutions and the rest of the world.
It would be a consistent theme. Dr. Hussam’s appeal, the Palestinian Health Ministry’s appeal, and Hamas’s appeal to international institutions, but to no avail.
Then the Israelis started murdering doctors and other medical staff at Kamal Adwan.
On November 13, Dr. Hussam announced the martyrdom of a volunteer couple and their daughter at his hospital:
Martyrdom of Dr. Mohammad Jamal Shabat, who worked as a volunteer at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and the martyrdom of his wife, Dr. Dima Ashour Ashour, who also volunteered at Kamal Adwan Hospital. Their daughter, the child Ilya Mohammad Shabat, also martyred, while their son, Jamal Mohammad Shabat, survived.
Another week later, nothing had changed.
On November 20, Dr. Hussam gave an identical update to his numerous previous ones:
We are still under a severe siege; nothing is allowed in—not medicine, medical staff, food, ambulances, or civil defence services.
Despite our repeated pleas to the world, the same scenario continues to unfold.
The intensive care unit holds 6 extremely critical cases.
Sadly, cases of malnutrition have begun to emerge. Since yesterday, 17 children have arrived at the emergency room showing signs of malnutrition. Additionally, an elderly man passed away yesterday due to severe dehydration. The situation is becoming increasingly catastrophic.
When the occupation attacked a residential block near Kamal Adwan, massacring dozens of innocent civilians, the medical staff of the hospital joined in the rescue efforts due to civil defence being put out of service.
Dr. Hussam:
Our medical teams are pulling martyrs from under the rubble with their bare hands due to the complete absence of civil defence teams.
The hospital is overwhelmed, lacking specialised surgical capabilities, and can only provide basic first aid. The occupation continues to block the entry of medical delegations.
Without immediate international intervention to bring in essential medical supplies, this hospital will become a mass grave.
On Friday, the occupation’s attacks on the hospital became even more brazen and incendiary as it started dropping bombs on the hospital, targeting medical staff, the only electricity generator in the hospital, and its water supply.
Six medical staff were reported injured.
To restore oxygen supply, doctors were pictured trying to fix the damaged pipes at the hospital.
In one of the most dystopian scenes you will ever see, on Saturday, the occupation unleashed drone bombs on the hospital, causing severe damage to an already struggling hospital as it faced relentless shelling and complete siege.
Other than patients, two doctors suffered injuries as a result of the Saturday bombings. Further, the bombing cut off the power supply at the hospital with over 100 patients still inside.
Journalist Anas gave an apt description of the situation: “Doctors who were taking turns to serve their people suddenly found themselves taking turns to treat each other.” He added: “In the first photo, Dr. Nohad Ghunaim is seen treating his colleague Saeed Joudeh. An hour later, Ghunaim is injured and another colleague tries to treat him.”
Per Dr. Hussam there were over 100 patients in the hospital:
There are 86 injured people, 8 critical cases in the intensive care unit on ventilators, and 13 children receiving treatment in the hospital’s paediatric department.
Then, on Sunday, Dr. Hussam himself became a target of Israeli barbarism when he was left injured on a bed in his own hospital:
Dr. Hussam, however, remains defiant and steadfast in his duty as a doctor.
Late on Sunday night, he issued a video statement, announcing his hospital won’t cease operations:
We are providing a humanitarian service and will continue to do so in northern Gaza. Wherever our people are, we will stand by them and provide everything we have left. Even if we are working with minimal resources, we will persist, as this is a duty guaranteed by all divine and earthly laws. It is imperative for the world to take a stand for this healthcare system, which is operating at the bare minimum."
In recent weeks, some of our medical staff have been detained. Tragically, no one intervened, no one acted, and no one spoke out about this. We are still being killed, and no one is stepping in to stop the bloodshed in northern Gaza.
He went on to describe the sheer terrorism being perpetrated by the Israelis and how no one is coming to the rescue of the helpless Palestinians:
A true genocide is taking place, targeting trees, stones, and everyone living in northern Gaza—even our healthcare system. Daily, we are targeted by bombs, missiles, quadcopters, and Apache helicopters. We do not know what crime we committed to deserve this relentless assault and killing on our healthcare system.
This relentless attack on Gaza’s medical infrastructure in general and Kamal Adwan Hospital in particular is unprecedented in modern history. This utter barbarism is a direct consequence of the total impunity granted to the Israelis by the powers that shouldn’t be.
There are none of the excuses and even propaganda — no matter how shoddy as in the case of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital last year — from the Israelis to mask their hideous project of putting out Gaza’s medical infrastructure. Simply because they don’t need those excuses and ruses any more. The Israelis know no one is stopping them, no matter how many cries for help Dr. Hussam and his colleagues make.
The impunity granted to the Israelis has ensured that there will be no check on their barbarism. They do as they please and we watch in utter horror and helplessness as they make sure yet another hospital in Gaza is “no longer able to function in any way, shape or form.”
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It's disgusting the governments of all the western countries supporting all this barbaric and murderous behaviour.
I was feeling sorry for myself this morning. Incredible, no? I had to replace the Palestinian flag I've had outside my house, it was so faded and torn by the wind after one year. Then I slapped myself. And then I wrote every politician I can find in the Canadian government. Then I read this. I'm not feeling sorry for myself anymore. I'm fucking enraged. And I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that we have not done enough.