Israel detains director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan, hospital 'empty, out of service'

Israeli forces have burned the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza after weeks of attacks, and detained dozens of its staff including the director
9 min read
28 December, 2024

Gaza health officials said on Saturday that Israeli forces detained the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north, which has been mostly burned and put out of service by the Israeli military.

"The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention centre for interrogation, including the director, Hussam Abu Safiya," the health ministry and the Gaza civil defence agency confirmed.

The civil defence agency's director for the north, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout was also detained.

"The occupation has completely destroyed the medical, humanitarian, and civil defence systems in the north, rendering them useless," Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, told AFP.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it had launched an operation in the area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, putting the facility out of service.

"This morning's raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in north Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid," the WHO said in a statement on X.

The WHO said 60 health workers and 25 patients are in critical condition, including those on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital.

The WHO reiterated its call for a ceasefire, saying, "Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal functional. The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care."

6:02 PM

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Israeli army confirms detention of Kamal Adwan director
5:58 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israel's military on Saturday confirmed it has detained a hospital director during a raid in north Gaza that the World Health Organization said left the area's last major health facility emptied of patients and staff.

The military said the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiyeh, is being held for questioning, suspected of "being a Hamas terrorist operative", and the raid is now over.

Gaza health officials and the WHO earlier Saturday had said the raid forced the hospital in Beit Lahia out of service and led to Abu Safiyeh's detention.

Israel says it has ended Kamal Adwan operation
4:52 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israel's military said Saturday it had ended its raid in the north Gaza hospital of Kamal Adwan and had detained its director, baselessly accusing him of being a Hamas operative.

The military accused the hospital of being a "Hamas command centre".

"The IDF (military) and ISA (security agency) completed a targeted operation against a Hamas command centre in the Kamal Adwan Hospital... the forces apprehended over 240 terrorists in the area," the military said in a statement, adding that the hospital director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, suspected of "being a Hamas terrorist operative", had been detained for questioning.

Libya official discusses energy, migration with Syria leader
4:02 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

A senior official from Libya's UN-recognised government met Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Saturday and discussed issues including diplomatic relations, energy and migration.

"We expressed our full support for the Syrian authorities in the success of the important transitional phase," Libyan Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs Walid Ellafi told reporters after the meeting.

"We emphasised the importance of coordination and cooperation... particularly on security and military issues," he said, while they also discussed cooperation "related to energy and trade" and "illegal immigration".

Syrians fleeing civil war since 2011 and seeking a better life have often travelled to Libya in search of work or passage across the Mediterranean on flimsy boats towards Europe.

Ellafi said they also discussed "the importance of raising diplomatic representation between the two countries".

"Today the charge d'affaires attended the meeting with me and we are seeking a permanent ambassador," he added.

Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital 'now empty': WHO
4:00 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The World Health Organization said Saturday that the Kamal Adwan hospital was "now empty" following an Israeli military raid which put north Gaza's last major health facility out of service.

"Kamal Adwan is now empty. Yesterday evening, the remaining 15 critical patients, 50 caregivers and 20 health workers were transferred to Indonesian Hospital, which lacks the necessary equipment and supplies to provide adequate care," the WHO said, adding that it was "appalled" by the raid and had lost contact with Kamal Adwan's director.

Israel 'intercepts' two projectiles' fired from north Gaza
3:01 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The Israeli military said it intercepted two projectiles fired from northern Gaza toward Israel on Saturday, as the army continued its sweeping offensive in the north of the Palestinian territory.

"Following the sirens that sounded at 16:14 (14:14 GMT) in the areas of Jerusalem, Negev, and HaShfela, two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from northern Gaza were intercepted by the IAF (air force), the military said in a statement.

Hputhi rebels say new air raids hit northern Yemen
2:59 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Yemen's Houthi rebels said new air raids hit the country's north on Saturday, shortly after they claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel.

A Houthi military statement said the raids were carried out in the Buhais area of Hajjah province's Medi district, blaming "US-British aggression".

There was no immediate comment from London or Washington.

 

Lebanon returns 70 officers and soldiers to Syria: official
2:27 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Lebanon expelled around 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally via informal routes, a Lebanese security official and a war monitor said.

Many senior Syrian officials and people close to the former ruling family of Bashar al-Assad fled the country to neighbouring Lebanon after Assad's regime was toppled on Dec 8.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based organization with sources in Syria, and the Lebanese security official said Syrian military personnel of various ranks had been sent back via Lebanon's northern Arida crossing.

SOHR and the security official said the returnees were detained by Syria's new ruling authorities after crossing the border.

The new administration has been undertaking a major security crackdown in recent days on what they say are "remnants" of the Assad regime. Several of the cities and towns concerned, including in Homs and Tartous provinces, are near the porous border with Lebanon.

Turkey's energy ministry sends delegation to Damascus
2:23 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

A delegation from Turkey's energy ministry headed to Syria on Saturday to help Syrians obtain access to essential services after the fall of strongman Bashar al-Assad.

"A team from our energy ministry is on the way to Damascus," Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told a meeting of the ruling AKP party in the central Anatolian province of Nevsehir.

"We will identify Syria's infrastructure, energy and electricity needs and will do our best to ensure (Syrians) benefit from these essential services," he said.

2 million Gazans without access to food, water, shelter: WFP
1:22 PM
The New Arab Staff

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said two million Palestinians are in dire need of international aid for access to water, food and shelter amid the winter season and Israel's raging war.

"Despite our best efforts to deliver life-saving aid, it's impossible to meet people’s needs in the current scenario of conflict, insecurity & restrictions," it said.

Iraq to resume flights to Lebanon on Monday
1:05 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Iraq will resume flights to Lebanon on Monday, the Iraqi state news agency reported on Saturday citing statements by the country's transport minister. 

WHO chief narrowly escaped death in Israeli strikes on Yemen
12:44 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The head of the World Health Organization said Saturday he only narrowly escaped death in fatal Israeli strikes on the airport in Yemen's Houthi rebel-held capital.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told BBC radio his ears were still ringing following Thursday's attack as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, and stressed that the protection for civilian installations under international law must be respected.

Israeli air strikes hit Sanaa's international airport and other targets in Yemen on Thursday. The attacks against what Israel's military called rebel "military targets" marked the second time since December 19 that Israel has hit targets in Yemen after rebel missile fire towards Israel.

The UN health agency's chief described the scene as the first strike hit.

"We heard a heavy explosion nearby, and then I think repeated," Tedros said.

"The sound was so, so loud... So deafening, actually. Still my ear rings. It's already more than 24 hours now. I don't know if it affected my ear. The explosion was so heavy.

"It was the departure lounge next to us that was hit, and later on the control tower.

"It was very chaotic. People were in disarray and running everywhere and no shelter: we were completely exposed.

Gaza death toll rises to 45,484: health ministry
12:10 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

 At least 45,484 Palestinians have been killed and 108,090 wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, Gaza's health ministry reported on Saturday. 

15 Palestinians arrested across West Bank by Israel
11:39 AM
The New Arab Staff

Israeli forces have detained at least 15 Palestinians across the West Bank since Saturday evening.

According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS), the Palestinians were detained across the governorates of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Ramallah, and Hebron.

The raids were followed by assaults, threats against detainees and their families, and deliberate damaging of properties.

Five arrested outside Netanyahu residence for protesting
10:51 AM
The New Arab Staff

Israeli authorities have arrested five people for protesting outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Saturday.

A number of demonstrators protested outside calling for a deal to be signed with Hamas for the release of captives still held in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli army reports major ground attack in north Gaza
10:04 AM
The New Arab Staff

The Israeli military has released images of  combat tanks, armoured vehicles and armed soldiers carrying out an operation in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza again, in an official social media statement.

The military claimed the Nahal Brigade team was deployed to carry out an operation against "terrorist targets" in Beit Hanoun.

Children among those killed in Israeli strike on Al-Maghazi
9:06 AM
The New Arab Staff

Nine Palestinians, including three children, were killed early on Saturday following Israeli airstrikes on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, Palestinian media reported.

According to local sources, rescue teams recovered the bodies of nine victims and pulled out multiple injured individuals from the rubble of a house belonging to the Al-Naami family in Al-Maghazi. The casualties were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir Al-Balah.

Relatives mourn their loved ones after Israeli strike kills scores in Al-Maghazi [Getty]
US, UK spies 'forcing evacuation' of Russia bases in Syria
8:32 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service has accused American and British spies of trying to provoke attacks against Russian military bases in Syria in a bid to force the evacuation of the bases, the state-run RIA news agency said on Saturday.

The SVR gave no evidence for its allegation.

Two killed by Israeli drone strike in northern Gaza
8:26 AM
The New Arab Staff

At least two people have been killed and several other have been inured after Israel bombed the areas of Jabalia al-Balad and Jabalia al-Nazla in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday

Israel intercepts Houthi missile day after Sanaa struck
8:07 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early on Saturday, a day after the Houthi-held capital Sanaa was hit by fresh air strikes.

Sirens sounded in areas of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea on Saturday as "a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted... prior to crossing into Israeli territory", the Israeli military said.

The day before, a fresh air strike hit Sanaa, which Houthi rebels blamed on "US-British aggression" though it remains unclear who was behind it.

There was no comment from Israel, the United States or Britain.