Israeli forces withdrew from one of northern Gaza’s last functioning medical facilities, leaving a trail of destruction after a dayslong siege and overnight airstrikes that killed dozens in the city of Beit Lahia.
Troops stormed the hospital last week as the Israel Defense Forces continued their deadly offensive in the north, labeled one of the conflict’s “darkest moments” by the United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Türk.
Dr. Muhammad Al-Mughair, head of documentation for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told NBC News on Sunday that there have been approximately 1,000 people have been killed and 670 others missing since operations began in northern Gaza.
The IDF said it was targeting Hamas militants who were “within a structure in the area of Beit Lahia” and that some were killed. The military added that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians” prior to the strike.
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Footage filmed inside Kamal Adwan Hospital by NBC News’ crew in Gaza showed equipment, blankets, medical supplies and ceiling panels scattered across the floor, and fallen furniture blocking doors and walkways.
For Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician who had tended to hundreds as the hospital’s director, the siege has become painfully personal. After Israeli forces retreated on Saturday, he walked to a nearby cemetery to bury his own young son, Ibrahim, who was killed in the recent strikes.
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NBC News’ crew joined Abu Safiya as he stood side by side with relatives, patients and displaced people to say a tearful, final prayer to his son. They hugged and consoled him.
“We’re all your children,” one said, before they returned to work in a building wrecked by conflict.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ office called the situation for Palestinians in northern Gaza “unbearable” in a statement Sunday. His spokesperson said Guterres reiterated his call for a cease-fire and the release of hostages.
“The Secretary-General is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care, and families lacking food and shelter, amid reports of families being separated and many people detained,” the statement said.
Gaza’s health ministry said hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced Palestinians who had sought shelter at Kamal Adwan Hospital had been detained by Israeli forces, and that only three doctors were working at the hospital on Saturday.
Doctors Without Borders said Saturday that it was “deeply concerned” for the safety and whereabouts of one of its staff, Dr. Mohammed Obeid, an orthopedic surgeon who was sheltering and working in Kamal Adwan.
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called the situation “catastrophic,” with so few staff remaining to take care of “nearly 200 patients.”
“Reports of the health facilities and medical supplies being damaged or destroyed during the siege are deplorable,” he added.
Kamal Adwan is one of just three hospitals struggling to operate in the area. The IDF did not comment on the detention of health workers.
Outside, it continued the assault. Local authorities reported Israeli airstrikes killed at least 30 people and demolished several houses including in Beit Lahia’s Al-Khazan neighborhood.
Dr. Munir Abdullah Al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, said Sunday’s strikes on residential buildings in Beit Lahia buried “large numbers of people,” accusing the IDF of shooting at rescue crews as they approached the area. NBC News has asked the IDF for comment on the accusation.
Al-Bursh said residents were left digging for survivors with their bare hands. “We have asked them to transport any injured to the nearest hospital by any means available, whether on a cart, a tuk-tuk, or any other accessible means,” he said.
The IDF called the overnight bombings in Beit Lahia “a precise strike using precise munitions,” targeting Hamas infrastructure and militants. NBC is not able to independently verify the information, and the IDF did not provide details about these targets.
The local Health Ministry said last week that at least 87 people were killed by Israeli strikes on residential buildings in Beit Lahia.
The latest attacks follow weeks of intense bombardment of northern Gaza, as the IDF has surrounded hospitals and refugee camps, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee and fueling fears of a targeted starvation campaign.
Joyce Msuya, U.N. acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said “the entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying.”
An estimated 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza and nearly 100,000 injured since Israel launched its offensive after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, where some 1,200 were killed and another 250 kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023.
Last week, Jordan, one of the United States’ closest allies in the Middle East, confronted Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting in London.
The nation’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told Blinken that Israel was ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Gaza. “It has got to stop,” he told the American delegation in front of journalists.
On Sunday, the directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad will meet Qatar’s new prime minister in Doha to start renewed negotiations for a short-term cease-fire deal in Gaza that would see the release of some hostages in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke from Cairo on Sunday to propose a temporary cease-fire that would take place over two days, allowing for four hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.
Sissi said the agreement would allow for negotiations that would lead to a long-term cease-fire and allow an influx of aid into Gaza.
Chantal Da Silva contributed.
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