VIDEO | Gaza’s ‘Oxygen Bank’ Siege: Israel Opens Fire on Hospital, Children Among the Dead

Kamal Adwan Hospital is one of the last remaining medical facilities in the northern Gaza Strip. Oxygen supply to 150 patients in intensive care has been affected

ROME – Last night, Israeli ground forces surrounded Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza and opened fire from the ground, with tanks, according to international press sources. The attack is still ongoing. Correspondents on the spot also shared footage of the attack.

Kamal Adwan hospital is one of the last medical facilities still active in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been under siege for three weeks by the Israeli army, which has invaded the area with infantry forces. According to the director of the facility that serves two-thirds of the population of the north, Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the situation is “catastrophic”: the hospital has run out of supplies, while several departments including the intensive care unit were seriously damaged following last night’s attack. This has compromised the distribution of oxygen for 150 patients and 14 newborns. Some of them are said to have already died but the exact figure is unclear.

Al Jazeera reports that soldiers then stormed the facility, forcing doctors, nurses, patients and displaced families to gather in the courtyard. The men were reportedly arrested and taken “to an unknown location for questioning”. The Qatari broadcaster’s correspondent also reported that the patients were forcibly removed, including the seriously injured.

During the night, the air force also bombed the refugee camps of Jabalia and Beit Lahiya but the injured, it is reported, could not receive treatment due to the ongoing siege at the Kamal Adwan hospital. There are also those who report people still under the rubble of the raids.

Northern Gaza has been under siege by Israeli forces for three weeks Israelis, accused by the United Nations of denying access to humanitarian aid and rescuers, shooting at civilians on the move and arresting dozens of boys and men, splitting families. This news comes from testimonies and videos analyzed by international newspapers including Sky News and Aljazeera.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, also denounced the health situation in the northern Gaza Strip, writing in a post on its X profile: “About 30,000 children in northern Gaza have been prevented from receiving the second round of polio vaccinations”. Polio has returned to circulate in the Palestinian enclave due to precarious hygienic and sanitary conditions, 25 years after the last case.

In a video, the agency adds: “Polio is tormenting children in northern Gaza”, “Intense bombing and mass displacement – continues Unicef in the video – are blocking the vaccination campaign. If we do not reach children, this dangerous virus will spread with the risk of an increase in paralyzed minors. Polio – warns Uncief – does not respect borders and geographical boundaries. In northern Gaza a humanitarian pause is urgently needed and the bombings and displacements must stop immediately”.