Health personnel at the Indonesian hospital, the only one that continues to function in the besieged north of the Gaza Strip, denounced this Friday that The Israeli Army has ordered its evacuation. “There are about 15 people left in the hospital, mainly patients evacuated from Kamal Adwan and staff,” lamented one of the doctors at this hospital, Arawya Tamboura.
After the Israeli assault on the other northern hospital, Kamal Adwan, last weekend a large part of the patients were transferred to the Indonesian hospital, which It continued to function despite the enormous damage it already suffered due to the constant attacks by the Army. “The hospital is severely damaged and has no supplies and the foundation of the building has been damaged by a bulldozer in the previous attack on the Indonesian hospital a few weeks ago in December,” Tamboura added.
According to this same doctor, Benjamin Netanyahu’s troops gave the evacuation order over a loudspeaker in a message in which they demanded doctor Iyas Abu Dakkah leave the hospital “and leave the patients.” The medical staff of the hospital center has decided to remain with their patientsthe doctor confirmed.
The Israeli forces, before ordering the evacuation, destroyed the oxygen and electricity stations this Friday, the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported. “It is said that the damage to the hospital requires at least two months of major repairs in the building and in medical facilities, such as water, electricity and oxygen, to allow it to function at the minimum level,” Tamboura warned.
Israel carries out a tough “scorched earth” offensive in the entire northern Gaza Strip for almost 90 days, which has caused more than 3,000 deaths, thousands missing and enormous destruction throughout this area.
Israel bombs almost 40 health centers
In this sense, the Israeli Army has bombed 27 hospitals and 12 medical centers in Gazasome of them even on six occasions, as reported this Friday before the Security Council by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
The Security Council has met in an emergency, at the request of the Algerian presidency, to discuss the Israeli attacks on medical infrastructure in Gaza, which according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health have claimed the lives of 1,050 professionals in the sector. All of them, Türk stressed, “civilians who provide a critical function in times of war.”
The Israeli attacks have left 100,000 injured in the almost 15 months of war, and of them “many have died waiting for treatment due to lack of access to medical care,” the high commissioner highlighted by teleconference. Likewise, it has highlighted the increasing obstacles that Israel places on UN bodies and other humanitarian agencies to provide these services.
He recalled that in international law it is mandatory to distinguish between civilian and military targets, and “using heavy artillery against hospitals is difficult to reconcile with that principle.” What’s more, intentionally attacking hospitals where the wounded are treated.”It’s a war crime (…) and the deliberate destruction of medical infrastructure amounts to collective punishment that also constitutes a war crime.”
Türk has said that Israel argues that its attacks on hospitals are justified because they serve as a hideout for militants from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. “But Israel has not offered enough information to support these accusations, which are vague and often erroneous. In some cases, they are contradictory to the information available.”
If Israel’s accusations were true, that would also amount to a war crime by Hamas. For this reason, Türk has publicly asked “an independent, transparent and exhaustive investigation” about their attacks on medical centers and their alleged improper use for military purposes.
However, since the beginning of the war, on October 7, 2023, Israel has refused to allow independent investigations about its actions during the Gaza war, in the same way that it has prevented journalists from accessing the conflict zone for fifteen months.
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