Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman has condemned the Israeli occupation forces' continued aggression against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and the burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital, forcing patients and medical staff to evacuate it by force.
The Foreign Ministry statement said that such acts show their disregard for all international demands for a ceasefire, protection of civilians, and respect for international humanitarian law.
The ministry reiterated the Sultanate of Oman's firm position in achieving just peace and establishing an independent Palestinian state under the provisions of international law.
The Israeli raid has forced a major hospital in northern Gaza out of service and led to the detention of its director, the WHO, and health officials said Saturday.
The assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital has rendered the facility "useless", further worsening Gaza's severe health crisis, the Palestinian territory's health officials said.
"This morning's raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in north Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid," the World Health Organization said overnight on X, referring to the Israeli operation that began in the early hours of Friday.
The WHO said 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including some on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital. Patients in moderate to severe conditions were forced to evacuate to the destroyed, non-functioning Indonesian Hospital, the UN health agency said, adding it was "deeply concerned for their safety".
Gaza's health ministry reported that Israeli forces detained Kamal Adwan Hospital's director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, along with several medical staff members.
On Thursday, Abu Safiyeh said five staff members of the hospital had been killed in an Israeli strike near the facility.
The army had ordered 350 people to leave Kamal Adwan for a nearby school sheltering displaced families.
They included 75 patients, their companions, and 185 medical staff. Abu El-Rish said soldiers were transferring patients and medical staff to the Indonesian Hospital, which had already been put out of action by heavy damage and had been evacuated by Israeli forces a day earlier.
Footage circulating on Palestinian and Arab media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed smoke rising from the area of Kamal Adwan.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
