Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza overwhelmed after Israeli ‘massacre’ of Palestinians awaiting aid

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - Gaza's last functioning hospital faces a dire situation after many Palestinians killed and injured by Israeli forces while they were waiting for a delivery of aid south of Gaza City were brought to the hospital.

Kamal Adwan Hospital “received today about 300 injured and 20 dead, most of whom were victims of the massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation while they were awaiting aid,” Mustafa Naeem, head of the Emergency Department at the hospital, told Anadolu.

At least 112 Palestinians were killed and 760 others injured when Israeli forces opened fire at a crowd waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City on Thursday, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

Naeem said that the hospital is overcrowded as large numbers of people injured and dead are brought there.

“The injured people are being provided care on the floor of the hospital,” he said.

He urged the Arab and Islamic world to intervene immediately to stop the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people.

Speaking to Anadolu, Suhaib Shaaban, an injured Palestinian, said: “I went to the aid-receiving area to fetch a bag of flour for my sister who suffers from malnutrition and an Israeli tank targeted me, inflicting several injuries.”

Abdul Karim Ismail, another injured person, said: “I went to Dowar al-Nablusi to get flour but was hit by shrapnel after being targeted by the Israeli army.”

He added that many people were killed during the incident.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and over 70,457 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio