GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 28, 2024 (AFP) - An Israeli military 
raid targeting Hamas militants 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 condition were forced to evacuate to the 
destroyed, non-functioning Indonesian Hospital, the UN health agency said, 
adding it was "deeply concerned for their safety".

Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry reported that Israeli forces detained Kamal 
Adwan Hospital's director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, along with several medical 
staff members.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Abu Safiyeh was held alongside its north 
Gaza chief, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout.

The Israeli military did not comment on the detentions.

In the days leading up to the raid, Abu Safiyeh had repeatedly warned about 
the hospital's precarious situation, accusing Israeli forces of targeting the 
facility.

On Monday, he issued a statement accusing Israel of targeting the hospital 
"with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside".

On Thursday, Abu Safiyeh said five staff members of the hospital had been 
killed in an Israeli strike near the facility.

Since October 6, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in 
northern Gaza, saying its goal is to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.

The military said Friday that it was acting on intelligence regarding 
"terrorist infrastructure and operatives" in the hospital's vicinity.

- 'Heinous crime' -

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

Hamas has denied claims its operatives were present at the hospital, accusing 
Israeli forces of storming it on Friday. 

"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 said in a statement.

Gaza's health ministry had earlier quoted Abu Safiyeh reporting 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."

Iran, which backs Hamas, "strongly condemned the brutal attack", with a 
foreign ministry statement calling it "the latest example of war crimes, 
crimes against humanity, gross violations of international law and norms".

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 the accusations.

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."

Meanwhile, Hamas's media centre reported "massive Israeli air and artillery 
strikes in Beit Hanoun", in northern Gaza .

The Israeli military says it has killed hundreds of militants since the 
stepped-up assault in northern Gaza began on October 6, while rescuers in the 
area say thousands of civilians have died in the sweeping offensive.

Gaza civil defence also reported that in a separate Israeli strike in central 
Gaza at least nine Palestinians were killed on Saturday.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel last 
year, which resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP 
tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 45,436 people in 
Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run 
territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.