An Israeli military raid targeting Hamas militants has forced a major hospital in northern Gaza out of service and led to the detention of its director, the WHO and health officials said yesterday.
The attack comes just days after an Israeli airstrike hit Yemen’s main airport as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers on board was landing and a UN delegation was waiting to leave.
The assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital has rendered the facility “useless,” further worsening Gaza’s severe health crisis, the Palestinian territory’s health officials said.
Photo: Reuters
“This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in north Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid,” the WHO said overnight on X, referring to the Israeli operation that began in the early hours of Friday.
The WHO said 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including some on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital.
Patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed, nonfunctioning Indonesian Hospital, the UN health agency said, adding that it was “deeply concerned for their safety.”
Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry reported that Israeli forces detained Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, along with several medical staff members. Gaza’s civil defence agency said Abu Safiyeh was held alongside its north Gaza chief, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout.
Ammar al-Barsh, a resident of Jabalia where the military has focused its assault in the past few weeks, said that the raid on Kamal Adwan and its environs had left dozens of homes in the area in ruins.
“The situation is catastrophic, there is no medical service, no ambulances and no civil dfense in the north,” Barsh, 50, said.
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told BBC radio that his ears were still ringing following Thursday’s attack as he prepared to board a flight in Sana’a, and stressed that the protection for civilian installations under international law must be respected.
The strikes hit Sana’a’s international airport and other areas in Yemen on Thursday, against what Israel’s military called rebel “military targets.”
“We heard a heavy explosion nearby, and then I think repeated,” Tedros said. “The sound was so, so loud... So deafening, actually. Still my ear rings. It’s already more than 24 hours now. I don’t know if it affected my ear. The explosion was so heavy.”
He said it was a “matter of luck,” that a missile deviated slight, missing them.
Houthi Deputy Minister of Transport Yahya al-Sayani said four people were killed and 20 wounded in the strikes.
Additional reporting by AP
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
RSS