Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalia, on October 25, northern Gaza. Troops detained 44 male medical staff and some patients, damaged several buildings, and allegedly disabled generators and oxygen stations, resulting in the deaths of two children in the ICU. previously, Medics refused evacuation orders, citing over 600 people inside.

Kamal Adwan Hospital was one of the remaining hospitals providing basic healthcare services to patients and the injured in northern Gaza, but it has now been left without any medical staff after they were abducted by Israeli forces. Sources : 1 2

October 25, 2024

Israeli forces besieged the hospital during two weeks, raiding it on Friday October 25 when it ordered all patients and medical staff to gather in the hospital’s courtyard. Dozens of health workers from among the 600 Palestinians trapped inside the hospital, were detained.

“Following the detention of 44 male staff members, only female staff, the hospital director, and one male doctor are left to care for nearly 200 patients in desperate need of medical attention,” the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Director-General Tedros Adhanom, said on X on Saturday.

The hospital director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, was amongst the medical staff rounded up by Israeli forces but he was released in the following day. However his son was murdered by Israeli forces.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said “we have lost touch with the personnel” at the hospital and called the raid “deeply disturbing”. He wrote in a post on social media platform X, that the hospital “has been overflowing with close to 200 patients – a constant stream of horrific trauma cases. It is also full of hundreds of people seeking shelter”.

Below are images depicting the aftermath of the raid, showing men stripped to their boxers and blindfolded, surrounded by Israeli tanks and soldiers

Dr. Hossam Abu Safiyyah, Head of the Hospital (in the middle) is complying to the evicition order

A quote from Israeli Channel 14’s army and defense correspondent confirms the arrests: “Fighters of the Saber Battalion of the Givati Brigade operated in the terrorist house Kamal Adwan in the north of the Gaza Strip, and pulled out from there terrorists … and other Hamas officials. During the battles, the fighters killed dozens of terrorists.”

Statement of The Palestinian Ministry of Health

"Israeli forces forced displaced male individuals to remove their clothing and arrested some. They gathered and detained medical personnel in one room and called a number of these staff, including the hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, to where the Israeli forces were located in the hospital courtyard. All of these individuals are currently unaccounted for after losing contact with them.The Ministry of Health demands that international organizations urgently intervene to protect the medical personnel and patients present there without water, food, or medical services."

October 26, 2024

Israeli forces withdrew from Kamal Adwan Hospital, releasing 14 detained medical personnel, including the hospital’s director.

Dr Abu Safiya described in a video message, the “extremely catastrophic” situation at the hospital. “After the army’s withdrawal, about 31 people from our medical staff were either taken or arrested, which has now left us with very few numbers,” he said.

The Palestinian health ministry reported Israeli airstrikes on Beit Lahiya killed at least 30 people, though no official confirmation followed. The ICRC stated the situation in northern Gaza is "extremely dire" and urged for safe evacuation passage and access to essential supplies for civilians.

Dreadfully predictable news, the brave Paediatrician at Kamal Adwan who has been calling out for his ICU patients for weeks has been arrested by the Israelis. He works for respected international NGO nobody could suspect him of doing anything other than practice medicine

On otober 27 :

Only one doctor remains at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza after the facility’s medical staff were either detained or forced out by the Israeli army, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The Gaza health administration announced that 30 healthcare workers are still being held by the Israeli army.

Names of the Detained Staff from the Kamal Adwan Medical Team under Israeli Occupation

1. Dr. Mohammad Obeid
2. Dr. Hassan Al-Muqayid
3. Dr. Mohammad Zahir
4. Dr. Musab Rweished
5. Mahmoud Labad
6. Mahmoud Abu Amsha
7. Ahmad Radwan
8. Mohammad Assaf
9. Abdullah Al-Qatati
10. Hatem Al-Jamal
11. Mohammad Al-Khatib
12. Jaafar Abu Al-Ma’za
13. Hatem Al-Ajrami
14. Wissam Abu Nada
15. Abdullah Awkal
16. Samir Al-Ajrami
17. Abdullah Abu Rafi’
18. Ahmad Shahin
19. Nidal Al-Muqayid
20. Mahmoud Al-Muqayid
21. Mahmoud Saleha
22. Abu Hassan Al-Kurd
23. Mahmoud Hammad
24. Farouq Ouda
25. Maher Ahmad
26. Hussein Abed
27. Ahmad Nassar
28. Moataz Nassar
29. Hassan Nassar
30. Imad Al-Khatib

On October 29

The hospitals are facing total breakdown. Hussam Abu Safia, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera that “The hospital is left with no resources. No medical supplies and no medical staff.” (...) “This is because many of our specialized doctors and surgeons have been detained. It is only me together with a single pediatrician—who cannot perform any surgery on the wounded—that are left inside the hospital. Above all, patients and the injured are strewn all over the hospital floor.”

Testimonies

1. Ahmed El Mokhallalati @AMokhallalati (Irish-Palestinian Plastic Surgeon | Head of Plastic Surgery @ Alshifa Hospital, Gaza.) "A few days ago, I shared the testimony of my dear brother, Dr. Mohammed Obeid, the head of the Orthopedics Department at Al-Awda Hospital, while he was besieged with his family at Kamal Adwan Hospital. He continued providing care for patients in the north. Today, we lost contact with Dr. Mohammed after the medical staff was detained. Dr. Mohammed is a courageous hero. May God protect you and bring us reassurance about you"
2. MSF UK @MSF_uk "We have received confirmation that Dr Mohammed Obeid, an MSF orthopaedic surgeon, has been detained by Israeli forces along with several medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital during a military operation on 26 Oct.We are extremely alarmed by the detention of our colleague." See also

3.Dr.Fadi Bora @FadiBora3e (Doctor at Al-Aqsa hospital ||Doctor at AL-Indonesi hospital in North Gaza || Graduated from Mansoura University (54)) "My friend, the good doctor Abdullah Abu Al-Jidyan He spent a year treating the wounded in northern Gaza. He was arrested yesterday while carrying out his humanitarian work. We ask you to surround him with your mercy and release him in the near future. Protect him from all harm, return him safe and sound to his family, and grant him reward for every wound he has healed and every soul he has saved, O Generous One, O Answerer of Prayers."

Geolocation

Geolocation by Abu Location: Critical Situation at Kamal Adwan Hospital, Beit Lahia. The hospital was shelled, besieged, and ordered to evict.

A. Analysis of the yard in which hospital residents gathered. Location was cross-located using photos from September: 31.538495, 34.500994

B. Analysis of the Merkava tank location : 31.538744, 34.501081