Israel encircles 2 of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals, groups say

Israel’s military encircled two of the last functioning hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, staff and aid groups say, as the World Health Organization is warning that the activity is “stretching the health system beyond the breaking point.” 

The development comes as an Israeli military spokesperson said Wednesday that “We are entering a new phase, different in size and strength, to achieve the war’s objectives of returning the kidnapped soldiers and defeating the terrorist [group] Hamas. 

“Forces from the 401st Brigade and the Givati Brigade, under the command of the 162nd Division, began operating in the northern Gaza Strip, where they identified and destroyed suspicious buildings in the area and eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists,” IDF Col. Avichay Adraee wrote on X. 

The Indonesian hospital and al-Awda hospital are among northern Gaza’s only surviving medical centers, according to the Associated Press. 

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Israeli authorities issued evacuation orders Friday for large parts of northern Gaza ahead of military activity intended to pressure Hamas to release more hostages. 

Both hospitals as well as another and three primary health care centers are within the evacuation zone, though Israel has not ordered the evacuation of the facilities themselves. Another two hospitals and four primary care centers are within 1,000 yards of the zone, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization. 

Israeli military operations and evacuation orders “are stretching the health system beyond the breaking point,” he said. 

Israeli drones have been hovering around the Indonesian hospital since Sunday, an aid group that supports the hospital told the AP. 

The Israeli military said its forces were operating around the hospital and targeting Hamas infrastructure but that troops had not entered the facility and ambulances were allowed to move. 

However, Israeli bulldozers demolished a perimeter wall of the hospital, according to the aid group MERC-Indonesia and a hospital staff member who had since evacuated. Then on Tuesday, airstrikes reportedly targeted the hospital’s generators, sparking a fire and damaging its main power supply. 

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At least one staff member was killed, according to WHO, which said those who remained in the hospital were in urgent need of water and food. The U.N. said it was working to transfer remaining patients to other facilities. 

Nearly a half a mile away, Israeli drones fired Monday into the al-Awda hospital courtyard, preventing movement, Rami Shurafi, a board member of that hospital, told the AP. 

On Tuesday, Israeli drones fired at two ambulances that transferred three patients to Gaza City as the crews tried to return to the hospital, spokesperson Khaled Alhelo reportedly added. 

“Anyone moving in the hospital is fired at. They are all keeping low inside the hospital,” he said. 

About 47 patients, including nearly 20 children and several pregnant women, and some 140 doctors and medical staff members are still at the hospital, according to Shurafi. 

Israel has also begun allowing a trickle of food and medicine into the Gaza Strip after sealing the territory’s 2 million Palestinians off from all imports for more than 2 1/2 months. 

A few dozen trucks have entered since Monday, but none of the aid has been distributed because of delays caused by Israeli military procedures, the U.N. said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.