Israeli army raids Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, forces medical staff to leave

The Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday said the Israeli army raided the hospital and forced its medical staff to leave following a four-day siege.

In a statement, the hospital said the medical staff were forced to leave toward the western Gaza City area after one of the medical staff was arrested by the Israeli army.

It added that 14 of the medical staff remained in the hospital, with 11 injured people and their escorts who were unable to leave the hospital without ambulances.

On Wednesday, the Government Media Office in Gaza said the health sector in northern Gaza is completely out of service due to the Israeli deliberate targeting of the health facilities since Oct. 7.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas that killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 35,700 Palestinians have since been killed, most of them women and children, and nearly 80,000 others injured.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered it to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.