\n<\/p>\n
Israeli forces have detained and interrogated medical staff after forcibly evacuating the last major hospital in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says.<\/p>\n
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, <\/b>Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, was among those taken for questioning by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which accused him of “being a Hamas terrorist operative”, without providing evidence.<\/p>\n
On Friday an estimated 50 people, including medical staff were killed in Israeli air strikes targeting the vicinity of the hospital, the health ministry said.<\/p>\n
The IDF said it had carried out an operation there, alleging the hospital was a “Hamas terrorist stronghold”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Fifteen critical patients, 50 caregivers and 20 health workers were transferred the nearby Indonesian Hospital, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. <\/p>\n
The WHO said it was “appalled by yesterday’s raid” on the hospital, which it said now meant the area’s last major health facility was out of service.<\/p>\n
Eid Sabbah, head of the nursing department at Kamal Adwan, told the BBC the military had ordered the evacuation around 07:00 on Friday, giving the hospital about 15 minutes to move patients and staff into the courtyard.<\/p>\n
Israeli troops then entered the hospital and removed the remaining patients, he said.<\/p>\n
The IDF said it had “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel” before beginning the operation.<\/p>\n
The city of Beit Lahia, where the hospital is located, has been under a tightening Israeli blockade imposed on parts of northern Gaza since October.<\/p>\n
The UN has said the area has been under “near-total siege” as the Israeli military heavily restricts access of aid deliveries to an area where an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people remain.<\/p>\n
In recent days, the hospital’s administrators have issued desperate pleas appealing to be protected, as they say the facility has become a regular target for Israeli shelling and explosives.<\/p>\n
But the IDF and Israeli Security Agency (ISA) alleged that intelligence had shown “terrorists” were using the Kamal Adwan Hospital as a command centre for its military operations in Jabalia. <\/p>\n
In a statement on Saturday, the IDF said it apprehended 240 combatants. <\/p>\n
It said IDF officers were attacked during the operation and weapons were found and confiscated in the area of the hospital.<\/p>\n
It added Dr Abu Safiya was among medical staff taken for questioning and is “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative, as well as Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives.”<\/p>\n
Hamas has called on the United Nations to intervene to protect the remaining medical facilities in Gaza.<\/p>\n
“We also demand that UN observers be sent to these facilities in order to determine the truth of what is happening,” it said in statement on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Gaza’s deputy minister of health, Dr Yousef Abu-Al Rish, told the BBC that around 100 medical staff were being questioned by the IDF and alleged that some were exposed to psychological torture. <\/p>\n
The IDF did not comment on the latter allegation when approached by the BBC.<\/p>\n
Concerns remain about the state of the Indonesian Hospital, which doctors have warned is not equipped for patients.<\/p>\n
“You can’t call it a hospital, it’s more of a shelter,” Dr Abu-Al Rish said on Friday.<\/p>\n
The WHO added that an urgent mission was being planned to the Indonesian Hospital to move patients to southern Gaza for medical care. <\/p>\n
Additional reporting by Shaimaa Khalil<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n