Israeli attack on Kamal Adwan hospital and Nuseirat home in northern Gaza | Gaza news

The strike comes as the health system in Gaza is collapsing amid repeated attacks by Israeli forces.

Israel killed at least 26 people and injured more than 60 – including children and women – in an airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the middle of the Gaza Strip, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

The raid took place early on Friday and “damaged many houses in the neighbourhood”, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the civil protection unit, told AFP news agency.

Israeli forces have carried out several deadly attacks in the past day as they besieged the Kamal Adwan hospital in and around Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.

One such attack – caught on video in a clip commissioned by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit – involved Israeli soldiers opening fire on a Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance.

Attacking the hospital

On Friday, Israeli soldiers killed about 30 people when they stormed the Kamal Adwan hospital under cover of heavy artillery and airstrikes, according to Dr. Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at the hospital.

“People we did not know were sent inside the hospital wearing different uniforms and armed with weapons and loudspeakers,” said Sabbah.

“They sent a message [hospital director] Dr Hussam Abu Safia and his colleagues… to leave the hospital, including patients and medical staff. He asked them to come out and look at the tanks,” he said.

“This operation led to the killing of 30 people inside the hospital, including four employees. They were targeted and killed.”

Eyewitness accounts also suggest that Israeli forces used drones to target Palestinians inside the hospital.

Medical facilities, their staff and vehicles are protected under the Geneva Convention.

Stalking people who are scared

Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, who has worked extensively as an emergency surgeon throughout Gaza, said he believed the Israeli army was using the medical center as a “trap”.

“This has happened many times. “The Israeli soldiers … attack the surrounding area, and then when people run to the hospital for help, they attack the hospital,” said Gilbert.

“So it seems that the Israeli army is using Kamal Adwan as a trap to capture or kill those it wants.”

On Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza accused the Israeli army of committing war crimes against Kamal Adwan.

The World Health Organization said the Israeli army bombed the facility without warning its staff.

To justify its actions, Israel says Hamas fighters used public buildings, including hospitals and schools, to operate during the 14-month-old Gaza war.

Hamas has denied this, accusing Israel of indiscriminate bombing and attacks.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said the three main hospitals in the northern part of the enclave are not functioning properly and have been under frequent attacks since Israel sent tanks to Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon and nearby Jabalia in October.