Last major health facility in north Gaza out of service: WHO

An Israeli military operation Friday targeting Hamas militants near the Kamal Adwan Hospital has put the last major health facility in northern Gaza out of service, the World Health Organization said.

"Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid," the WHO said in a statement on X.

Israel's military claimed in a statement that the hospital had become "a key stronghold for terrorist organisations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist operatives" since Israeli forces began broader operations in northern Gaza in October.

The WHO said 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including those on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital.

The patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed and non-functional Indonesian Hospital, the UN health agency said, adding that it was "deeply concerned for their safety".

Since 6 October, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in northern Gaza, stating its goal is to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping, and said Friday that it was acting on intelligence regarding "terrorist infrastructure and operatives" in the hospital's vicinity.

Before initiating the latest operation near the hospital, the military said its troops had "facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel".

The WHO reiterated its call for a ceasefire.

"This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for WHO and partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October," the WHO said.

"Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal functional. The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care."

Hamas denied its militants were present in the hospital, and charged that Israeli forces had stormed the facility on Friday.

"We categorically deny the presence of any military activity or resistance fighters in the hospital," Hamas said in a statement.

"The enemy's lies about the hospital aim to justify the heinous crime committed by the occupation army today, involving the evacuation and burning of all hospital departments as part of a plan for extermination and forced displacement."

Hamas urged the United Nations to set up an investigation committee "to examine the scale of crime being committed in northern Gaza".

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, quoting hospital director Hossam Abu Safiyeh, said that the military had "set on fire all surgery departments of the hospital".

Abu Safiyeh said the military had also "evacuated the entire medical staff and displaced people".

"There are a large number of injuries among the medical team."

As of Friday morning, the hospital housed around 350 people, including 75 injured and sick patients, along with 180 medical staff, Abu Safiyeh said.

Witnesses in the area told AFP that the hospital had been evacuated and hundreds of people living in the vicinity were "forced to seek refuge at Al-Fakhura school and the Indonesian hospital" in Jabalia.

AFP was unable to contact Abu Safiyeh and other hospital officials or independently verify how many people had been evacuated from the facility.

The Israeli military has regularly accused Hamas of using hospitals as command and control centres for attacks against its forces throughout the war. Hamas has denied these accusations.

On Thursday, Abu Safiyeh said that five staff members had been killed in an Israeli strike.

The military, when contacted by AFP, did not comment on the strike.

In recent days, Abu Safiyeh has repeatedly raised concerns about the hospital's situation, accusing Israeli forces of targeting the facility.

"The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displaced the people inside," he said in a statement on Monday.

The World Health Organization has described conditions at Kamal Adwan Hospital as "appalling" and said it was operating at a "minimum" level.