Health sources in the Gaza Strip have reported that Israeli forces have detained Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, along with dozens of medical staff members. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza confirmed that the occupation forces transferred these individuals to a detention center for interrogation.
Kamal Adwan Hospital was the last major hospital still operating in northern Gaza. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the hospital is now “out of service” following an Israeli strike nearby. The organization indicated that initial information suggests key hospital services were burned and destroyed during the raid, with 60 medical staff and 25 critically ill patients present.
For its part, the Israeli forces stated that they conducted an operation against Hamas fighters near the hospital, accusing the movement of using the medical facility as a “hideout for terrorists,” a claim Hamas “categorically denied.”
Gaza’s Civil Defense condemned these arrests, considering them a complete destruction of the medical and humanitarian structure and rescue services in the northern part of the strip.
This development comes in the context of Israel’s escalation of its ground and air operations in northern Gaza since October 6, with the aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping, according to Israeli forces.
Israel repeatedly accuses Hamas of using hospitals as command centers to launch attacks against its forces, which the movement strongly denies, describing Israel’s claims as “lies aimed at justifying the heinous crime committed by the occupation forces in evacuating the hospital and burning all its departments.”