Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza: Witness to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people

In Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, patients and the wounded are groaning without medicine or medical interventions, as the capabilities are lacking due to the strict Israeli siege and the ongoing war of extermination since October 5.

Patients and the injured in the hospital face their pain away from the eyes of the world, and without receiving the minimum treatment, as their greatest hope has become obtaining painkillers to alleviate the severity of their pain.

A patient in his thirties, who asked not to be named, told Anadolu Agency that "the conditions of his injury are very difficult, as he needs to have platinum rods installed in his foot, but they are not available in the northern Gaza Strip."

"They took me to the hospital (after the injury) in a donkey cart, and there are no ambulances or health services here. There is nothing," he added in a tired voice.

In addition, the young man says that there are “no doctors” in the hospital to follow up on health or provide services.

The young Palestinian expressed his regret over the lack of painkillers to relieve the severity of the pain that keeps him up at night.

"Nutritional solution" is the most that a patient or injured person can receive, regardless of the nature of his wounds, according to what Palestinians inside the hospital reported.

This severe shortage of resources that the Israeli army deliberately inflicts on the medical system in the northern governorate, in one way or another, causes the death of patients and the wounded due to the lack of treatment.

Israel has repeatedly refused, according to international and UN officials, the entry of medicines, medical supplies and food into the stricken province, with the aim of forcing its residents to migrate under the pressure of hunger and killing.

Palestinian officials have repeatedly warned of losing patients and wounded people due to the lack of medical facilities in the northern Gaza Strip.

Over the course of more than 40 days of the Israeli genocide of the governorate, they launched distress calls to international and UN institutions and organizations concerned with the health sector, but to no avail.

On October 5, the Israeli army began a ground invasion in the northern Gaza Strip, under the pretext of "preventing Hamas from regaining its strength in the area."

While the Palestinians say that Israel wants to occupy the northern Gaza Strip and turn it into a buffer zone after displacing its residents, under the pressure of continuous bloody bombing and a tight siege that prevents the entry of food, water and medicine.

This operation caused the health system to go out of service, according to statements by government officials, in addition to stopping the work of the Civil Defense and ambulances of the Palestinian Red Crescent.

However, the three main hospitals in the governorate, Kamal Adwan, Indonesian, and Al-Awda, are trying to operate with minimal capabilities and one or two doctors, and in light of the depletion of their stock of medicines and medical supplies, to provide the minimum service to the wounded and sick.

"Breaking" health system

Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, told Anadolu Agency that every day that passes since the beginning of the genocide in the northern governorate, "the situation gets worse." He continued: "The health system is still in a state of disaster. We provide the service at the bare minimum."

He reiterated his emphasis on the scarcity of medical capabilities in the northern governorate in general and Kamal Adwan Hospital, explaining that Israel continues to refuse the arrival of medical delegations with surgical specialties to the northern governorate.

According to Abu Safiya, Israel continues to refuse ambulances access to the governorate, which is witnessing continuous aerial and artillery bombardment, causing massacres that often claim the lives of dozens of Palestinians.

Bloody events

He explained that the pain prevents him from sleeping at night, adding: "All night long I scream from the pain, but there are no painkillers. Here we only take the solution, and there are no antibiotics."

The northern Gaza Strip governorate lacks even the necessities of life, even food, according to the patient. The specter of famine looms over the northern governorate, which is under a strict military siege by the army, preventing food, water and medicine supplies from entering.

This was confirmed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in a report published on November 5, saying that Israel had prevented “for nearly a month all attempts by humanitarian organizations to send food supplies to the population in the besieged areas of the northern Gaza Strip.”

On Friday, a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification ( IPC ) Famine Review Committee (a team of leading independent international experts in food security, nutrition and mortality) warned of a strong possibility of imminent famine in areas of northern Gaza, as the Israeli occupation continues its genocide in the northern Gaza Strip.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 147,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Israel continues its massacres, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to end them immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency