Palestinians say that Israel has arrested the director of one of the last operating hospitals in northern Gaza – Watani

Palestinian medical officials said that the Israeli army arrested the director of one of the last operating hospitals in northern Gaza, while night raids in the Strip killed nine people, including children, while sirens sounded across Israel.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the occupation forces arrested Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital. This announcement comes a day after Israeli forces stormed the hospital, forcing many employees and patients to leave their homes due to the winter weather, according to the ministry.

The Israeli army did not respond to questions regarding Dr. Abu Safiya. On Friday, she denied allegations that she entered the compound or set it on fire, said she was carrying out operations against Hamas infrastructure and militants in the area and ordered people out of the hospital.

She repeated allegations that Hamas fighters were operating inside Kamal Adwan Hospital, but did not provide any evidence. Hospital officials denied this.

Kamal Adwan Hospital has been bombed several times over the past three months by Israeli forces who launched an offensive against Hamas fighters in the surrounding neighborhoods. The ministry said a raid on the hospital earlier this week killed five medical workers.

The Israeli bombing campaign and attacks that have continued for almost 15 months have devastated the health sector in Gaza. The war led to the deaths of more than 45,400 Palestinians, more than half of whom were women and children, and the injury of more than 108,000 others, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Their number does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The ministry said that Dr. Abu Safiya was arrested on Friday along with dozens of other hospital workers and taken to an interrogation center.

On Friday, MedGlobal, the humanitarian organization where Dr. Abu Safiya worked, said he was a lead doctor in the group and it was deeply concerned for him. The group said the incident comes after the arrest of five more of its employees in October, describing it as a “worrying and outrageous pattern of targeting medical workers and medical settings.”

Since October, the Israeli attack has effectively closed off the Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia areas in northern Gaza, leveling large parts of them to the ground. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced out, but thousands are believed to remain in the area where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located.

Israel pledged to destroy Hamas after the attack launched by militants on October 7, 2023 on southern Israel, in which they killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others. About 100 Israelis remain detained in Gaza, and about a third of them are believed to be dead.

On Saturday, Israel continued its attacks throughout the Gaza Strip. A night air strike killed at least nine people in Al-Maghazi, including women and children, according to what Reuters reported. news agency The reporter who saw the bodies and workers at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where they were taken.

Israel said that its forces also began operating in the northern city of Beit Hanoun after intelligence information about the presence of Hamas fighters and infrastructure in the area.

Strikes also continued inside Israel. Early Saturday morning, Israeli sirens woke up again, and the military said it intercepted a missile fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Israeli warplanes bombed key infrastructure in Yemen again on Thursday. Iran-backed Houthi rebels are also attacking ships in the Red Sea and say they will not stop until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza.

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