Israeli forces attack two Jabalia hospitals as Rafah offensive intensifies
Palestinians evacuate Kamal Adwan Hospital following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, 21 May 2024
Middle East Eye reports on
Israeli forces attacked two hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip as they pushed deeper into the Jabalia refugee camp and increased bombardment of crowded Rafah districts.
Artillery shelling hit al-Awda Hospital, north of Jabalia, which has been under Israeli siege since the weekend. Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia was also shelled, forcing bed-ridden patients and medical staff to evacuate.
On Monday, the medical team at al-Awda said that snipers were “aiming at the building and an artillery rocket hitting the fifth floor, where the administration department is located,” according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We are deeply concerned about the safety of the remaining patients and hospital staff. We appeal for their protection, for humanitarian access and an immediate ceasefire,” Ghebreyesus said on X.
In Kamal Adwan, shells struck the gates of the emergency department, according to hospital director Hossam Abu Sfiya. Other Israeli bombings were reported across the Gaza Strip, targeting areas in Rafah and Khan Younis. An air strike in the crowded Yabna refugee camp in Rafah killed three children on Tuesday, Al Jazeera Arabic said.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, 85 people were killed and 200 wounded in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll since 7 October to 35,647.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to push deeper into Jabalia refugee camp under the cover of heavy aerial bombardment. The ground assault on Jabalia camp, located north of Gaza, began almost two weeks ago and has led to some of the most intense fighting between Hamas and Israeli troops since the start of the war.