The Israeli military forced patients and staff members to leave one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza on Friday, and officials in the Gaza health ministry said they had lost contact with its medical staff there.
The hospital, Kamal Adwan, has been caught in the middle of Israel’s offensive against Hamas militants in the northern part of Gaza, and fighting has raged around the facility for nearly three months.
In a statement, the Israeli military said that the hospital was a “stronghold” for Hamas, and that soldiers had evacuated medical staff and patients from the facility “in order to mitigate harm to the civilian population in the area.”
Gazan health officials said they were concerned about the safety of the hospital’s staff.
“The fate of everyone at the hospital is unknown to us,” said Yousef Abu al-Rish, the deputy health minister in the territory, who is based in southern Gaza. “We’ve tried to call them in every way possible and we haven’t been able to reach them.”
Mr. Abu al-Rish said that he last had phone contact with the hospital on Thursday night, when he was told that Israeli forces were bombarding the area and tanks were approaching the hospital.
He said he had later been told that Israel raided the hospital and forced medical staff members, patients and patients’ escorts to leave, but he had not been able to confirm that information directly with the hospital.
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