An Israeli attack on the Kamal Adwan hospital in hard-hit northern Gaza has killed at least fifty people, five of them healthcare workers. The hospital and the Gazan Ministry of Health announced this on Friday, Al Jazeera reports. During the attack, the Israeli armed forces also forced approximately 75 sick patients to leave the hospital. They were left outside in the courtyard, in the winter cold.
The Israeli soldiers gave patients 15 minutes to leave the hospital in Beit Lahiya and then stormed the medical facility’s buildings, reporters at the scene said. The Israeli armed forces have not yet confirmed the attacks.
Babies froze to death, help denied
In recent days, several Palestinian babies have died from the winter cold, including pneumonia, as a result of targeted Israeli attacks on the Gazan medical infrastructure. In the meantime, relief supplies such as food, water and medicine are virtually not allowed into North Gaza, which according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, among others, amounts to (acts of) genocide. Doctors Without Borders also says it sees “signs of genocide” in Gaza.
It is difficult for journalists to report on the hospital because Israel cuts off as many communication channels as possible. Only Al Jazeera and other smaller media still have a few correspondents in the heavily ravaged Palestinian region. On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, five journalists were killed in an Israeli attack while they were in a van that was clearly identified as a media vehicle.
About 150 journalists have been killed since the war in Gaza began. This makes the Gaza Strip the deadliest area for the press to do their work.
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