Israel evacuates last functioning hospital in northern Gaza

The family of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, is pleading with the international community to help learn his whereabouts, alleging he was detained by Israeli forces during a recent raid on the medical facility.

The family posted a message on Abu Safiya's official Instagram page, on which the doctor had been posting updates about the hospital's functioning, pleading, "We do not know the fate of our father."

"We appeal to every compassionate individual and all international organizations and institutions to take action," said the family, asking the international community to apply media pressure and make appeals to "help us push for his swift release from captivity."

The message said Abu Safiya is still recovering from injuries he suffered a month ago while working at the hospital.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement released on Saturday that Abu Safiya is suspected of being a Hamas terrorist and is being held in Gaza.

Abu Safiya had not been arrested in previous IDF raids of the hospital.

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The IDF released a statement outlining their operations in and around Kamal Adwan Hospital in the last few days.

The Israel Defense Forces said the hospital was a "command center" for Hamas "military operations in Jabaliya," although the statement and attached media do not provide corroborating evidence of this.

The statement says the IDF faced heavy fighting in areas near the hospital, and says the IDF detained 240 terrorists, including the director of the hospital, Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, whom it says is is "suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative.”

Abu Safiya was one of the only male staff members at the hospital not detained during the IDF's raid of the hospital in October, and he would have helped coordinate numerous resupply and patient evacuations with Israel over the last several months.

Kamal Adwan is the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza and is operating at a limited capacity due to a lack of medical supplies and the repeated attacks on the hospital.

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Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza came under attack again on Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ministry reported a siege was ongoing at the hospital and Israeli forces were "forcibly transferring the sick and injured" to other locations.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza and is operating at a limited capacity due to a lack of medical supplies and the repeated attacks on the hospital.

The director of field hospitals at the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, Marwan Al-Hams, said 25 patients remain inside Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Israeli forces said the hospital "serves as a Hamas terrorist stronghold in northern Gaza" in a release about the attacks.

"Following prior IDF and ISA intelligence regarding the presence of terrorist infrastructure and operatives carrying out terror activities in the area of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya, soldiers of the 401st Brigade under the command of the 162nd Division began operating in the area in the last few hours," the IDF said in a statement Friday.

"In order to mitigate harm to the civilian population in the area, IDF troops facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel prior to the operation," the IDF said in the statement.

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