France condemns Israeli raids on hospitals in Gaza following the offensive on Kamal Adwan in the north of the territory at the end of last week. More than 240 people were arrested, including the director of the establishment, accused by Israel of being a Hamas activist. Consequence of the offensive: Kamal Adwan hospital is out of service. Which makes access to healthcare in the north of the Gaza Strip even more difficult.
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“ A health system is destroyed. » This is how the International Committee of the Red Cross describes the situation in this area where 75,000 Gazans still live. Of the three big hospitals, there is almost nothing left. The ICRC also called for respect and protection of medical facilities in accordance with international humanitarian law.
“ This protection is a legal obligation and a moral imperative to preserve human life », Adds the press release, specifying that hospitals are essential to help people sick or injured during conflict.
WHO calls on Israel to release hospital director Kamal Adwan
“ Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip has been out of service since the raid, the forced evacuation of patients and staff and the detention of its director. We don’t know where he is. We demand his immediate release », Wrote on X the director general of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“ Gaza hospitals have become battlefields again and the health system is under serious threat “, he estimated.
The Israeli army indicated on Saturday, following its raid launched on Friday, that it had arrested the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital, Dr Hossam Abou Safiya.
After the Israeli army raid, the 15 patients and 70 caregivers from Kamal Adwan Hospital took refuge in the Indonesian hospital. But the situation there is just as alarming: “ It’s just a building with a few caregivers and very few supplies. », Explains to RFI a spokesperson for the World Health Organization, a team of which was able to go there on Sunday. The most critical patients were also transferred to a hospital in central Gaza.
85% of medical structures “ damaged »
Finally, the al-Awda hospital in Jabalia, still in the north, is under severe strain, because it is the last in this sector to still operate.
Across the Gaza Strip, 85% of medical facilities have been “ damaged » according to Doctors of the World. The NGO denounces “ repeated attacks against health structures and personnel in total violation of international and humanitarian law. »
Added to the material damage is the lack of medicine, fuel and caregivers.
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Respiratory infections and children dying from the cold
The cold has entered the Gaza Strip. It is currently 10°C and the rain is abundant. The already very precarious living conditions are getting worse and have direct consequences on the health of Gazans. On site, caregivers noticed that respiratory infections were increasing.
“Living conditions are already terrible, in makeshift shelters. You have to imagine tents which, these days, are swept away by the rain, by the cold, with very little food entering the Gaza Strip. », Indicates Caroline Bedos, head of the Middle East division at Médecins du monde. “ There are few blankets, no heating obviously. There are tents that are flooded and it is extremely humid and therefore conducive to infections and the spread of diseases. »
She continues: “ So what we see is an increase in consultations for respiratory illnesses and a deterioration in the health of the population. We were also able to observe deaths from the cold, this is what the Gaza authorities report, who mention seven deaths including six children. », underlines Caroline Bedos.
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