Staff and patients at the Kamal Adwan Hospital have been detained, injured, and killed in Israeli attacks [Getty]
Staff at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip staged a sit-in protest as Israeli forces continued their attacks on it, destroying generators and wounding medical personnel.
The charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said at least two people were killed on Monday in attacks on the building, forcing remaining staff to try and shed light on what is happening and demand an end to the offensive.
Many more have been killed and injured at the medical facility amid an intensified Israeli siege and bombardment of the north of the Gaza Strip.Â
The hospital’s director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, himself wounded from shrapnel from an Israeli attack, made an urgent appeal from his hospital bed, surrounded by staff holding posters urging for protection of medical staff.
“We are speaking from the centre of the intensive care unit, the only one in the northern Gaza Strip, after enduring over fifty days of siege…for the past seven consecutive days we have been bombed directly” he said, adding that Israeli forces struck the hospital’s courtyard, damaged the oxygen station, water network and overall infrastructure.
“We also demand the immediate release of our medical personnel who were detained from their posts at Kamal Adwan Hospital. They were brutally detained, beaten, insulted, dragged in an inhuman manner,” he continued, noting that they still do not have any information on people who were seized from the hospital by Israeli forces.
The hospital staff reiterated their calls for international intervention and help in finding out information about those taken during Israeli raids and attacks.
Routine assaults on hospitals
According to Abu Safiya, Israeli assaults on hospitals have become routine, and involve vital infrastructure being damaged, including water and electricity facilities, which he says jeopardises the lives of patients.
Despite attempts to fix equipment and treat patients following attacks, staff at the hospital say it is impossible because they are met with more attacks the following day.
“This targeting clearly indicates that they want to hinder our ability to provide humanitarian services, which are supposed to be protected by international laws that safeguard healthcare systems and personnel” Abu Safiya said.
In videos published online, dozens of Palestinians can be seen in Kamal Adwan Hospital in need of assistance.
Doctors and medical specialists in the hospital have raised concerns in recent days over weapons the Israeli army are using, stating that quadcopter drones are dropping bombs that contain tiny fragments that are almost invisible to the naked eye.
The medical staff say that the weapons penetrate bodies and cause severe bleeding as well as damage to internal organs.
Staff present at the sit-in protest directly appealed to the World Health Organisation and organisations such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), demanding immediate action to alleviate the suffering of staff and patients.
Despite repeated attacks targeting medical equipment and staff, the workers said they are determined to keep providing care to those who need it in Gaza and will use whatever minimal resources they have to help.
North Gaza has been under a full Israeli siege for over one month now, with Israeli forces not allowing anyone to exist or enter the enclave, while bombarding it. No medical aid or assistance has been allowed in, and the area also has no functioning ambulances left in it.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 44,235 Palestinians and wounded 104,638 others. The offensive has utterly devastated the Gaza Strip and created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with an Israeli siege bringing the territory to the brink of famine.
