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Israel army detains hospital director in northern Gaza
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Israeli forces have detained the director of a hospital in the north, Gaza health officials said on Saturday. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the hospital was put out of service by an Israeli raid.
“The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention centre for interrogation, including the director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh,” the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement.
The Gaza civil defence agency reported that Abu Safiyeh had been detained, adding that the agency’s director for the north, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout was among those held.
“The occupation has completely destroyed the medical, humanitarian, and civil defence systems in the north, rendering them useless,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, told AFP.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had launched an operation in the area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, saying the facility was a “key stronghold for terrorist organisations”.
Gazan terrorist group Hamas denied its militants were operating out of the hospital, and charged that Israeli forces had stormed the facility on Friday.
The World Health Organization said the Israeli military operation had put the hospital out of service.
“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 in a statement on X.
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Nearly one in five of the world’s children live in areas affected by conflicts, with more than 473 million children suffering from the worst levels of violence since the second world war, according to figures published by the UN.
The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, said on Saturday that the percentage of children living in conflict zones around the world has doubled from about 10% in the 1990s to almost 19%, and warned that this dramatic increase in harm to children should not become the “new normal”.
With more conflicts being waged around the world than at any time since 1945, Unicef said that children were increasingly falling victim. Citing its latest available data, from 2023, the UN verified a record 32,990 grave violations against 22,557 children, the highest figures since the security council mandated monitoring of the impact of war on the world’s children nearly 20 years ago…
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BEIT LAHIA, GAZA – DECEMBER 25: Palestinians gather following the Israeli attack on the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surrounding buildings in Beit Lahia, Gaza on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Khalil Ramzi Alkahlut/Anadolu via Getty Images) Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
The last major health facility in northern Gaza has been put out of service, the World Health Organization has said, and its director detained according to Gaza officials after an Israeli military operation targeting sites near the Kamal Adwan hospital.
“Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid,” the WHO said in a statement on X.
Israel’s military said in a statement that the hospital had become a “key stronghold for terrorist organisations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist operatives” since Israeli forces began broader operations in northern Gaza in October…
Israel army detains hospital director in northern Gaza
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Israeli forces have detained the director of a hospital in the north, Gaza health officials said on Saturday. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the hospital was put out of service by an Israeli raid.
“The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention centre for interrogation, including the director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh,” the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement.
The Gaza civil defence agency reported that Abu Safiyeh had been detained, adding that the agency’s director for the north, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout was among those held.
“The occupation has completely destroyed the medical, humanitarian, and civil defence systems in the north, rendering them useless,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, told AFP.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had launched an operation in the area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, saying the facility was a “key stronghold for terrorist organisations”.
Gazan terrorist group Hamas denied its militants were operating out of the hospital, and charged that Israeli forces had stormed the facility on Friday.
The World Health Organization said the Israeli military operation had put the hospital out of service.
“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 in a statement on X.