TEHRAN – The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is horrified by the Israeli assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital, confirming that it had lost contact with the hospital’s director. 

The WHO clarified that "Kamal Adwan Hospital is now empty. Last night, 15 critically ill patients, 50 caregivers, and 20 healthcare workers were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital, which lacks the equipment and supplies necessary to provide adequate care.”

It added that "moving these patients and treating them under such conditions poses severe risks to their survival.”

Earlier, the organization said that 12 patients had been forced to relocate to the Indonesian Hospital. “Additionally, reports indicate that some individuals were stripped of their clothing and forced to walk toward southern Gaza.”

The organization also warned that the systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on north Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk.

On Saturday, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) set Kamal Adwan Hospital ablaze, carrying out an airstrike in its vicinity after storming the hospital and searching wounded individuals and patients.

Over 350 people inside, including doctors, nurses, hospital staff, patients, and relatives, were forcibly removed from the hospital and taken to an unknown location. 

75 patients and injured people, who were already in critical condition, were forced into the hospital courtyard amid freezing temperatures. 

Despite the increasingly dire needs for emergency and trauma services and supplies, only 10 out of 21 WHO missions to Kamal Adwan have been partially facilitated between early October and December, the Who said in its December 28 report. 

Despite the outrage expressed by the WHO and other international organizations, the IOF launched an artillery strike on the al-Ahli Arab Hospital (also known as the Baptist Hospital) in Gaza City on Sunday.

The IOF is believed to have targeted the upper floors of the hospital, which was the last functioning healthcare facility in northern Gaza after the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

According to local reports, the IOF used artillery shells to strike the top floor, further damaging the building.

The latest assault is part of a wider pattern of Israeli forces targeting medical facilities in Gaza, particularly in the north, where the healthcare system has been completely decimated.

=======Sexual assault on women and girls

Testimonies collected by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reveal harrowing accounts of sexual assault against women and girls during the IOF raid at the Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday. 

The Israeli army detained dozens of women and girls, subjecting them to severe abuse amounting to sexual harassment, alongside degrading treatment that violated their human dignity. 

This included beating them and forcing them to remove their hijabs and clothing.

One of the women expelled from the area told the Euro-Med Monitor team, “A soldier forced a nurse to take off her trousers, then placed his hand on her. 

When she tried to resist, he struck her hard across the face, causing her nose to bleed.”

Another woman reported that a soldier told a woman in their group “Take it off, or we’ll force it off you.”

In another incident, a woman refused to remove her headscarf, prompting a soldier to tear her clothes, exposing her chest. 

One victim recounted being dragged by a soldier who forced her to press against him, saying, “Take it off now,” while hurling obscene remarks at her.

Similarly, a hospital staff member told the Euro-Med Monitor team, “The soldiers ordered us to remove our hijabs, but we refused. They then turned to the girls under 20 years old and demanded they remove their hijabs, but they also refused. The soldiers decided to punish us by taking two women at a time and forcing them to lift their clothes and lower their trousers under threats and coercion.”

The Israeli occupation regime continues to commit massacres and war crimes across the Gaza Strip. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health’s daily report on Sunday, the death toll from the Israeli genocidal war has risen to 45,514 with another 108,189 injured since October 7, 2023.