By Hosni Nedim
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) — The Israeli army shelled the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza early Thursday, injuring four medics, the Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave said.
Extensive damage was reported in the shelling that targeted the hospital’s third floor, where medicines and medical equipment were stored, the ministry added in a statement.
Hospital Director Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said four medics suffered burns from the Israeli attack.
“The attack has caused fires in sections containing injured people and medical supplies," Abu Safiya said.
"We were forced to leave patients to die because of the cessation of surgical operations," he said, calling the situation at the hospital "catastrophic."
The Israeli army withdrew Saturday from the hospital after an intensive raid that began Friday, leaving a scene of devastation with numerous casualties among Palestinian civilians and extensive structural damage.
According to Abu Safiya, hundreds of patients, medical staff, and displaced people were held inside the hospital during the Israeli raid, during which he was also detained and questioned by the army.
The Israeli army has continued a deadly onslaught in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent Hamas from regrouping amid a suffocating siege on the area.
Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
Since then, no humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and fuel, was allowed by the Israeli army into the area, leaving most of the population there on the verge of imminent starvation.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in northern Gaza since the offensive began, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense Service.
The onslaught was the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Over 43,100 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio