Israel ignores WHO appeals and attacks another hospital in northern Gaza
Israel ignored pleas from the World Health Organization (WHO) to stop attacking medical facilities in northern Gaza, with a medical worker telling Middle East Eye on Thursday that heavy shelling and gunfire from unmanned quadcopters was taking place in the direction of the war-battered Indonesian Hospital.
Dr Rawia Tambour told MEE that Israeli forces were firing heavy artillery shells in the vicinity of the facility in Beit Lahia, while quadcopters shot at anything that moved.
"Israeli military vehicles are advancing towards the hospital," Tambour said in an audio message, as the sounds of blasts echoed in the background.
The Indonesian Hospital, one the biggest health facilities in northern Gaza, has been out of service for weeks due to ongoing Israeli attacks and a debilitating siege put in place since early October.
Earlier this week, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, called on Israel to cease its attacks on Gaza's beleaguered hospitals and medical centres and offer a brief reprieve to exhausted Palestinians.
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"Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat," Tedros said, adding: "We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to healthcare. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Cease fire!"
A day later, the UN Human Rights Office released a report saying Israeli forces had "destroyed the healthcare system in Gaza”, with the situation reaching "catastrophic levels".
The report said that Israel's 15-month offensive had resulted in the "killing of hundreds of health and medical professionals", as well as patients and civilians.
"It is essential that there be independent, credible and transparent investigations of these incidents, and full accountability for all violations of international humanitarian and human rights law which have taken place," the report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
Assault on hospital
Israel has repeatedly targeted Gaza's healthcare system since declaring war, with videos, investigations and witness testimony documenting relentless attacks on hospitals, ambulances and doctors.
Israeli forces previously raided the two largest hospitals in the strip, al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and Naser Hospital in Khan Younis, destroying them in the process.
Last week, Israel forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital and deliberately set ablaze several medical departments, killing at least 20 Palestinian medical workers and patients, and wounding several others.
Israel forces also kidnapped the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, reportedly taking him to the notorious Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert.
Abu Safiya has not been seen in public since Friday, with one of the last photos taken of the 51-year-old showing him walking alone towards a row of Israeli tanks that had amassed outside the facility.
Torture, rape and murder are rife at Sde Teiman, with investigations by MEE, CNN and the New York Times finding widespread examples of abuse.
The constant attacks on Gaza's hopitals come as several displaced families have seen their babies and infants die due to hypothermia.
The UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned on Tuesday that "more babies will likely die" in the coming days after severe rainstorms uprooted and flooded tents.
Reneen Gossam Abu Assi, a 16-year-old displaced Palestinian, said she didn't know how her young siblings would survive the harsh winter conditions.
"They are freezing ... and hungry, and on top of that [facing] war and starvation ... this is unfair," Abu Assi told MEE.
Her siblings spent the night suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting amid the rain, she said.
"As grown-ups we can endure this, but what about the children, what do we tell them?" she added.
Figures from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classifcation (IPC) show that Gaza's entire population, which has fallen to 1.9 million people, is undergoing extreme levels of acute food insecurity.
More than 1.1 million people are at risk of facing catastrophic conditions classified under the IPC Phase 5, considered the most severe level of food insecurity.
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