Gaza hospital out of action after Israeli army assault

GAZA: One of the last remaining hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip stopped operating on Tuesday after being stormed by the Israeli army, its director said.

Fadel Naim said that Israeli troops had attacked the Al Ahli hospital and arrested doctors, medical staff and patients, destroying part of the building's grounds.

Israel's attack has "put the hospital out of action", he said. "We can't receive any patients or injured."

At least four people who were wounded by Israeli fire on Monday died on Tuesday after being injured in the Al Ahli assault, he said.

"According to our information, there are dozens of wounded in the surrounding streets," he said.

Al Ahli, also known as the Baptist or Ahli Arab hospital, was already heavily damaged by an explosion in its car park on October 17, resulting in at least dozens of deaths.

Palestinian groups accuse Israel, which denies responsibility and blames a misfired rocket by fighting groups for that blast.

Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and Palestinians on October 7.

Israeli troops have previously raided other medical facilities in Gaza, including Al Shifa, the territory's largest hospital, which is now functioning at minimal capacity with a very small team.

Women mourn the loss of loved ones who were killed overnight during Israeli bombardment, at a hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. — AFP

On Sunday, the World Health Organization said the Al Ahli hospital was receiving "critical patients" from Al Shifa for surgery.

Al Shifa emergency department, devastated by Israeli bombardments, is "a blood bath" and "in need of resuscitation", the WHO said.

Ashraf al Qudra, spokesman for the health ministry in the Palestinian territory, said on Tuesday another hospital in northern Gaza, Al Awda in the Jabalia area, had been turned "into a barracks" by the Israeli army.

He said the army was holding 240 people in the hospital, "including 80 medical staff and 40 patients," and had arrested its director, doctor Ahmad Mhanna.

Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the rising civilian death toll and destruction of hospitals in Gaza.

The Israeli offensive has killed at least 19,453 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the territory's health ministry.

The death toll out of Gaza has earned Israel international rebuke including from close allies.

US President Joe Biden has warned Israel was at risk of losing international support due to its "indiscriminate" bombing of the Palestinian territory.

"I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives," Biden said. — AFP