Israel orders emptying of medical facility with nearly 400 civilians inside, including babies who need oxygen and incubators.
The director of one of Gaza’s last partially functioning hospitals is appealing for help, saying Israeli forces have surrounded the medical facility.
Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, on Monday urged the international community to act “before it is too late”, calling the situation “horrifying”.
He said obeying an Israeli order to empty the facility would be “next to impossible” because nearly 400 civilians remain inside, including babies who need oxygen and incubators.
“The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments and the staff. This is a serious and extremely horrifying situation,” Abu Safia said.
Outside the hospital in Beit Lahiya, Israeli forces have placed what is thought to be explosives at the gates. Witnesses said an automated guided vehicle delivered boxes with the word “danger” written on them.
Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said the Israeli military has deployed automated remote vehicles called “explosive robots” around the hospital.
“[The robots] are loaded with tonnes of explosives that can lead to the destruction of the neighbourhood,” Abu Azzoum said.
“We’ve seen videos released by some of the medical workers inside Kamal Adwan Hospital showing how the Israeli military has been using these in the vicinity of the hospital,” he added, saying it could be a sign that further escalation might take place in the coming days.
“The Israeli military is systematically trying to exert ultimate pressure on the medical teams by causing severe destruction to the surroundings [of the hospital],” Abu Azzoum said.
Abu Safia said: “The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace us,” adding that the Israeli bombing did not stop throughout Sunday night, destroying homes and surrounding buildings.
“We urge the international community to intervene quickly and stop this fierce assault on us to protect the healthcare system, the workers and the patients within it,” the hospital director said.
Since Monday morning, the hospital has been targeted with bombs in its courtyards and on its rooftop dropped by quadcopters, once again threatening the hospital’s fuel and oxygen supplies, he said.
“The situation remains extremely dangerous and requires urgent international intervention before it is too late,” the doctor said.
Abu Safia made a similar appeal on Sunday, accusing Israel of directly bombing the hospital’s intensive care unit.
More than 14 months of Israeli attacks have devastated Gaza and displaced almost all of its 2.3 million people. More than 45,000 people, mostly children and women, have been killed in the offensive.
Israel’s genocide against Palestinians started shortly after a Hamas-led incursion inside Israeli territory on October 7, 2023 killed nearly 1,100 people, according to Israeli officials, and about 250 others were taken captive.
