Israel forces detain senior staff at Gaza’s Al-Amal Hospital

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported today that Israeli occupation forces had detained Dr Haider Al-Qudra, the general director of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, and Maher Atallah, the hospital’s administrative director.

In a statement, PRCS added that they were taken to an undisclosed location. The arrests came after the International Committee of the Red Cross informed the association of Israel’s approval for a secure passage to facilitate the departure of displaced people from the hospital to the Mawasi Khan Yunis area.

After enduring more than two weeks of an Israeli military blockade, many displaced people began leaving the association’s headquarters and Al-Amal Hospital.

Israeli drones have been targeting the hospitals over the past couple of days, while Israeli forces carried out continuous aerial and artillery bombardments in their vicinity, putting the lives of patients, medical staff and thousands of displaced people at risk.

“The intentional and ongoing targeting of hospitals is a documented war crime, occurring in full view of the entire world, as part of the systematic genocide war against our people in the Gaza Strip, with the full support of the US administration, a complicit partner in these crimes and violations,” Hamas warned last week.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since 7 October, killing at least 25,490 Palestinians and injuring 63,354.

The Israeli onslaught has left 85 per cent of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

READ: Israel’s Ben-Gvir apologises to Biden after son claims he has Alzheimer’s