By Ramzi Mahmoud
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army withdrew on Saturday from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, one of the few remaining medical centers serving the area, after wreaking havoc and destruction on the facility.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that as the Israeli army withdrew, it left behind Palestinian casualties and extensive damage both inside and outside the hospital.
They added that homes and properties near the hospital were “destroyed and burned” by Israeli forces.
The witnesses said patients, the injured, and displaced Palestinians at the hospital went without food, water, or medication for two days during the incursion.
Further, they reported that Israeli forces bulldozed the hospital’s walls, along with makeshift shelters for the displaced inside and around the facility, and fired shells in the hospital courtyard.
The Health Ministry in Gaza on Friday evening said the Israeli army was searching and opening fire inside the hospital.
On Saturday morning, the ministry confirmed that Israeli forces had detained male medical staff, along with patients, during the raid on the hospital.
Over the course of its over one-year offensive on Gaza, the Israeli army has frequently targeted hospitals, houses of worship, and schools – civilian facilities that are off-limits under the rules of war.
The Gaza Government Media Office has said more than 820 Palestinians have so far been killed in Israel’s 22-day military operation in northern Gaza, which Gaza officials describe as a "campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
Nearly 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi