Key events
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.
