‘Catastrophic’ Israeli barrage hits hospital in northern Gaza, doctor says

By Abeer Salman, Kareem Khadder and Sana Noor Haq, CNN

(CNN) — The Israeli military battered Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza with heavy ground and aerial bombardment overnight Thursday into Friday, according to the director of the facility, who described as a “catastrophic” barrage.

Israeli forces dropped bombs from quadcopters and injured at least three medical staff, including one colleague who had been injured at least twice before, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told CNN on Friday.

“Tonight was one of the most difficult nights,” Abu Safiya said on a voice message, which was punctuated by the sound of bombardment. The area around the hospital has been targeted with intense strikes this week.

The scale and ferocity of the attacks blew off doors and windows on one side of the hospital, said Abu Safiya, adding water tanks “were blown away from the intensity of the explosion.”

“As of now, heavy bombing persists throughout the night, accompanied by ongoing destruction of buildings,” he added.

“It is a catastrophic scene, with airstrikes and artillery shelling occurring with unprecedented intensity and frequency.”

Israeli forces launched an aerial and ground incursion in several parts of northern Gaza in early October, saying they were targeting Hamas’ renewed presence there. The two-month onslaught has razed streets into carpets of debris, killed entire families, and severely depleted food, water and medical stocks. The Israeli military has fired on Kamal Adwan Hospital on a daily basis, and raided the facility at least six times since October 5, Abu Safiya told CNN.

The Israeli military says Hamas uses hospitals for its military operations. Hamas denies using hospitals as cover. CNN cannot independently verify either claim.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military about Abu Safiya’s accusations.

On Friday, COGAT, Israel’s aid agency said that “intense fighting has been taking place in certain areas of the northern Gaza Strip between IDF forces and terrorist organizations operating in the area.”

More than 4,000 Palestinians have been killed or reported missing, Gaza’s Civil Defense spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, said on Tuesday, since October 5. Another 12,000 people have been injured. Emergency crews have previously told CNN that the magnitude of the Israeli assault means they are struggling to access survivors trapped under the rubble of pancaked buildings.

COGAT said the Israeli military had “allowed and facilitated the evacuation of patients, escorts, and staff” from Kamal Adwan Hospital, to other health centers in the northern and southern parts of the strip.

COGAT added that “efforts had been made to facilitate and coordinate the delivery of supplies to the hospital, including food, water, medical equipment, and fuel.”

But humanitarian agencies have warned that barely a trickle of aid has entered neighborhoods and hospitals in northern Gaza. Israel’s sustained aid restrictions have cut off between 65,000 to 75,000 trapped residents from access to food, water, electricity or reliable healthcare, the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) reported on December 12.

On Thursday, the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said Israeli authorities had repeatedly denied humanitarian access to Kamal Adwan Hospital, where at least 96 patients, and health staff, “urgently need support.”

“The World Health Organization was denied three times in the last four days to access the hospital to deliver medical supplies and fuel; transfer critical patients to Al-Shifa Hospital; and deploy an international emergency medical team,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.

“Hostilities continue. Today a nurse was killed in an attack while he was on the way to Kamal Adwan,” he added. On Thursday, a leading orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Saeed Jouda, was killed on Thursday while traveling near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, according to the hospital. CNN asked the Israeli military about Jouda’s death.

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CNN’s Dana Karni contributed reporting.