Gaza appeals for help as Israeli army attacks key hospitals

The Israeli military is targeting three major hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip as doctors and authorities in the enclave request immediate intervention by the international community.

On Tuesday, weeklong Israeli attacks intensified on the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital and Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, and the al-Awda Hospital located east of the Jabalia refugee camp.

Two explosive-laden unmanned robotic vehicles planted earlier by the Israeli military blew up in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan in the early hours of Tuesday, wounding approximately 20 patients and medical staff, hospital director Hussam Abu Safia told Al Jazeera.

This was the first time Israeli forces used the explosives outside Kamal Adwan, but there have been similar reports of them being used to detonate buildings in northern Gaza.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said, “An eyewitness told us that much of the area around the hospital has been cleared from buildings, the infrastructure destroyed and severely damaged, impeding movement in and out of the hospital.”

The hospital has been repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military, rendering various departments, including the intensive care unit, inoperable.

Al-Awda, a charitable facility providing free healthcare in the northern part of the enclave, was hit on its third floor by the Israeli military on Tuesday. Parts of the building caught fire, which also spread to nearby residential buildings.

The Indonesian Hospital, a larger health facility, has also been experiencing increased attacks and Israeli threats, having also been threatened by the Israeli forces to evacuate the entire facility.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said the two hospitals have been providing medical supplies to besieged Kamal Adwan and also transferring patients out of there when possible.

“The Indonesian Hospital has been crippled by the attacks in the past few months. Much of the facility has been damaged, forcing many to evacuate it. As of midnight, the Israeli military issued a warning to everyone inside the hospital, including the patients, to leave the building and be in the streets in the cold weather amid the intimidation by the tanks and quadcopters,” he said.

Hospital directors, health authorities and rights organisations inside and outside Gaza have been condemning the attacks and calling for international help, but the situation in the north has only deteriorated.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli military is trying to put all three hospitals in the north out of service, and appealed for intervention.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said more than 20 attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital in recent days using drones, shelling and gunfire show that “genocide persists” in Gaza.

Aid delivery ‘almost impossible’

The Israeli military continues to launch numerous deadly air raids on Gaza each day, with medical sources confirming on Tuesday there were at least 32 deaths in the past 24 hours.

Some of the latest Israeli attacks included the bombing of a house in central Gaza that killed four, including a child and two women.

The Israeli military has kept blocking humanitarian aid bound for the enclave, with the chaos created by its ground offensive presenting myriad challenges for safely getting the meagre trucks coming in to designated locations, aid groups say.

On Monday night, an Israeli drone attack hit an area approximately 1km away from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, targeting a humanitarian aid convoy.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud, reporting from the hospital, said the Israeli military first allowed gangs to attack the convoy with the aim of looting it, to later launch a drone attack against security guards trying to protect the cargo.

“These seem to be deliberate attacks to cause more mayhem. Israel has killed 30 of these security guards so far.”

Tom Fletcher, the head of the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA), said in a year when more humanitarians have been killed than any on record, Gaza is currently dealing with its most dangerous situation yet.

“As a result, despite the massive humanitarian needs, it has become almost impossible to deliver even a fraction of the aid that is so urgently required. The Israeli authorities continue to deny us meaningful access – over 100 requests to access North Gaza were denied since 6 October. We are also now seeing the breakdown of law and order and the systematic armed looting of our supplies by local gangs.”

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