Gaza (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – In the ruins of the courtyard of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, a group of Palestinians search for bodies trapped in the rubble, and one of them cries as he wraps a body before he takes it buried.
First change: December 18, 2023 – 2:54 p.m
3 minutes
Mahmoud Asaf, 50, traveled in a cart from Jabaliya to Beit Lahiya, where the hospital is located, to pick up two children from his family who had been hospitalized for 10 days after suffering burns.
He found one of the minors, Hadi, “lying paralyzed on his back under some chairs.” The boy appeared barely conscious and was badly burned.
The Health Ministry of the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, said the Israeli army launched an attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital on December 12, denouncing that there had been a siege there lasting several days and that the soldiers had ” committed massacres.
The Israeli military reported Saturday that it had “ceased its operations in the area of Kamal Adwan Hospital” and accused Hamas of using the health facility as a command and control center.
Israeli authorities said they found weapons and detained 80 Hamas members at the medical facility, the last operating public hospital in northern Gaza.
Asaf said he wanted to pick up the children as soon as possible after the army left, but was shocked by the “massive destruction” he witnessed in the hospital.
“There are patients everywhere. There is nothing left, no more life. The children have severe burns. They had nothing to eat or drink and no treatment,” he said.
The traces of tanks and excavators can still be seen on the ground.
Hamas accused Israeli forces of “firing into patient rooms” and said they had detained health workers and destroyed tents of displaced people seeking shelter at the site.
Israeli troops attacked other health centers in the Gaza Strip, including the Palestinian territory's largest hospital, Al Shifa, in Gaza City, accusing Hamas of hiding a military base in the building, which the Islamist movement denies.
“Let’s kill them all.”
The Gaza Strip's entire health infrastructure has been hit by the Israeli army's bombings and ground operations in retaliation for Hamas's unprecedented bloody attack on Israeli territory on October 7.
Palestinians flee their homes for safety after an Israeli bombing near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023 © Mohammad Ahmad / AFP/Files
According to Israeli authorities, this Hamas attack killed almost 1,140 people, mostly civilians.
That offensive sparked a war with Israel in which nearly 18,800 people died in Gaza, mostly women, children and teenagers, according to the latest figures released by Hamas.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his “dismay” on Sunday at the destruction recorded at Kamal Adwan Hospital, in which “at least eight patients” died.
“Many patients had to leave the site on their own, risking their health and safety as ambulances could not reach this facility,” he explained.
“Several people died due to lack of treatment (…), including a 9-year-old child,” he lamented.
Abu Mohamed arrived looking for his son but was left crying at the door leading to the terrace.
“They demolished the building. They killed doctors. Not even the doctors were saved. They left nothing behind,” he lamented.
“My son is here. But I don’t know how to find it,” he said, pointing to the ruins.
“Where are the Arab countries?” this man asked himself. “They have been killing us since 1948,” he said, referring to the year Israel was founded.
“Let’s kill them all so we can rest instead of going through this torture,” he said.
© 2023 AFP