The last operational hospital in Northern Gaza, the Kamal Adwan Hospital, has been seized by Israeli forces following a series of intense military actions, in breach of international law.
Various accounts from hospital staff, Palestinian health officials, and independent observers paint a grim picture of forced evacuations, arrests, and alleged war crimes—claims that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have repeatedly denied in similar incidents, citing the presence of Hamas militants.
Hospital Seized, Patients Evacuated Under Duress
According to reports, the IDF stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital late last night, forcing doctors, nurses, and patients to leave at gunpoint.
Witnesses say the staff and patients, many of them severely injured, were given only minutes to vacate the building. Some were allegedly stripped of their clothing, lined up, and ordered to move on foot to the ruins of the already-damaged Indonesian Hospital. At least three babies have died in Gaza in recent days from exposure to freezing conditions there.
The Palestinian Health Ministry alleges that as many as 300 people, including individuals on ventilators and those with moderate to severe injuries, had no choice but to leave. The World Health Organization (WHO) separately reports that dozens of health workers and critically ill patients on life support remained inside, with parts of the hospital set on fire. Their fate remains unknown.
Fatalities and Arrests
Hospital sources say that in the days leading up to the takeover, repeated shelling, airstrikes, and the use of so-called “robotic bombs” resulted in the deaths of at least 50 people on hospital grounds since last Thursday. Five hospital staff members were among those killed.
Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director, Dr. Hassam Abu Safia, was reportedly arrested on charges that remain unclear, though those on the scene claim he was simply refusing to abandon his patients. Official IDF statements regarding these arrests have not yet been made public.
Accusations of War Crimes
Palestinian officials, international observers, and multiple human rights organizations have condemned the forced evacuation and attacks on medical facilities, calling these actions violations of international law. Medical sites are protected under international humanitarian law, and the targeting of hospitals—wherever it occurs—is widely viewed as a potential war crime unless there is concrete evidence of ongoing militant activity.
Israel has frequently claimed, including in this case, that Hamas operatives use hospitals and other civilian structures as bases or storage facilities for weapons and munitions. However, critics argue that such allegations have often been “widely falsified,” citing a lack of concrete proof. Hamas itself issued a strongly worded statement referring to the events at Kamal Adwan Hospital as part of “a campaign of extermination,” calling on the international community to intervene.
Hamas issued the following statement on the latest IDF hospital attack:
“The criminal occupation Army storming Kamal Adwan Hospital and the brutal massacres in its vicinity (are) Zionist war crimes taking place amid international inaction and complete complicity from the US Administration, a partner in the campaign of extermination in the Gaza Strip.
“The storming of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip by the criminal Zionist occupation Army, and forcing the medical staff, patients, wounded, and displaced persons inside it to leave at gunpoint after the intensification of the barbaric shelling of the hospital surroundings last night—which led to the martyrdom of more than 50 people, including five of the hospital’s medical staff—is a war crime that is added to the long series of crimes committed by the criminal enemy against our people amidst the continued global and international failure to play their role in protecting civilians and civilian facilities.
“We hold the criminal Zionist occupation—and behind it the American Administration, complicit in the brutal war of extermination in the Gaza Strip—fully responsible for the lives of the patients, the wounded, and the medical staff working in the hospital, after their complete isolation from means of communication and contact and the news leaking about their exposure to abuse and the arrest of a number of them and their being taken to an unknown location.
“We call on the international community, the United Nations, and all countries and active parties to take immediate action and break the cycle of silence and helplessness in the face of this genocide, and to take measures that will stop the Zionist aggression and the ongoing genocide against our people, and to work to hold this rogue entity and its terrorist leaders accountable for their crimes against humanity.”
International Media Scrutiny
Major news outlets have faced criticism for how they frame these evacuations. Terms like “forced evacuation” or simply “evacuation” have been used in headlines, prompting accusations that such language downplays the severity of the events. Detractors suggest that “evacuation” implies removing people to safety, whereas witnesses say civilians were forced out under violent threats, with no guarantee of protection or medical care at their next destination.
The BBC, Sky News, and The Washington Post have come under particular fire for headlines describing the event as an “evacuation” rather than a forced displacement at gunpoint. In one case, The Washington Post quoted Dr. Abu Safia speaking about an “evacuation,” though his current whereabouts—and the circumstances under which any interview occurred—remain unclear.
Calls for Accountability
Hamas’s official statement blamed both Israel and the U.S. government for what it characterizes as “complicity” in the “campaign of extermination” in Gaza. In parallel, Palestinian officials and human rights groups have called on the United Nations and other international bodies to intervene and protect civilians, demanding accountability for any potential breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
Meanwhile, activists and independent journalists have urged viewers and readers to scrutinize mainstream media coverage, advocating for alternative and foreign-based media outlets that they believe offer more transparent reporting from conflict zones.
Regional Implications
While the focus remains on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, some reports suggest that unrest and conflict-related shifts in neighboring regions—such as in northern Syria—may also be escalating. Observers caution that as hostilities in Gaza intensify, regional stability could deteriorate further, with various armed groups exploiting the chaos.
For now, conditions remain dire in Northern Gaza: a final hospital, once a refuge and last bastion for the wounded, is no longer treating patients. The uncertain fate of the remaining staff and critically ill individuals left inside underlines a deepening crisis that humanitarian organizations say risks spiraling into an even larger catastrophe should no immediate efforts be made to protect civilians and uphold international law.
