عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Israeli Army Leaves North Gaza Hospital, Detains Medics, Says Health Ministry

Palestinians view the damage after Israeli forces withdrew from the area around Kamal Adwan hospital, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Palestinians view the damage after Israeli forces withdrew from the area around Kamal Adwan hospital, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
TT
TT

Israeli Army Leaves North Gaza Hospital, Detains Medics, Says Health Ministry

Palestinians view the damage after Israeli forces withdrew from the area around Kamal Adwan hospital, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Palestinians view the damage after Israeli forces withdrew from the area around Kamal Adwan hospital, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip October 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

Israeli forces withdrew from a hospital complex in northern Gaza on Saturday, one day after storming it, and the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said the troops had detained dozens of male medical staffers and some of the patients.

Health officials said on Friday Israeli forces had stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities struggling to operate in the area, and also stationed forces outside it.

Footage circulated by the health ministry - which Reuters could not immediately verify - showed damage to several buildings after the Israeli forces withdrew.

Medics said at least 44 of the facility's 70-member team of the hospital had been detained by the army. It later said the army had released 14 of them, including the hospital's director.

An Israeli military spokesperson declined comment on the hospital report. On Friday the Israeli military said it operated in the area of the hospital based on intelligence "regarding the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure" there.

Medics said at least two children had died inside the intensive care unit after Israeli fire hit the generators and oxygen station in the facility on Friday.

Medical staffers have refused Israeli army orders to evacuate the hospital or leave their patients unattended. Before the army raid, medics said at least 600 people had been in the hospital, including patients and their escorts.

"The safety and lives of patients who are left inside Kamal Adwan Hospital without medical staff and much needed medication are at risk now," said Marwan Al-Hams of the health ministry.

Three nurses were injured during the raid and three ambulance vehicles were destroyed, the ministry said.

- MILITARY STRIKES

Israeli military strikes on the towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza have so far killed around 800 people during a three-week offensive, the Gaza ministry added.

Israel says its forces returned to northern Gaza to root out Hamas fighters who regrouped there. The Israeli military said on Friday that three of its soldiers were killed in combat in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said Israel's incursions in northern Gaza and storming Kamal Adwan Hospital were a violation of international humanitarian law that it could not have committed without "the protection of Western countries".

Israel regularly accuses Hamas of exploiting the civilian population and property, including hospitals and mosques, for military purposes. Hamas denies the accusation.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had expanded the humanitarian-designated area of Al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip, where the army has in the past told Palestinians to go when forced to evacuate their homes.

Separately on Saturday Israeli forces killed a Hamas member during a raid in the city of Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Israeli security force said in a statement. It said the man had been planning an imminent attack.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the dead man as Islam Jamil Awda, 29. In a statement, Hamas said Awda had died "clashing with the occupation forces who besieged him for hours in a house in Tulkarm camp".

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians - including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders - have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

US Allows Transactions with Governing Institutions in Syria Despite Sanctions

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
TT

US Allows Transactions with Governing Institutions in Syria Despite Sanctions

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.

The exemption, known as a general license, also allows some energy transactions and personal remittances to Syria until July 7. The action did not remove any sanctions.

Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available just two or three hours per day in most areas. The caretaker government says it aims to provide electricity up to eight hours per day within two months.

The US Treasury said the move sought "to help ensure that sanctions do not impede essential services and continuity of governance functions across Syria, including the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation."

A lightning opposition offensive brought a sudden end to decades of Assad family rule on Dec. 8. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which led the advance and set up Syria's caretaker government, renounced its ties with Al-Qaeda. But the US continues to designate it as a terrorist entity.

The United States, Britain, the European Union and other governments imposed tough sanctions on Syria after Assad's crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011 spiraled into civil war.

Washington previously authorized humanitarian support to the Syrian people by aid groups, the United Nations and the US government as well as some economic activity in certain areas not held by Assad's government.

While Monday's move "authorizes transactions with governing institutions in Syria ... even if a designated individual has a leadership role in that governing institution," it does not permit any transactions involving military or intelligence agencies.

The Treasury defined Syria's governing institutions as departments, agencies and government-run public service providers - including hospitals, schools and utilities - at the federal, regional or local level, and entities involved with HTS across Syria.

It also authorizes transactions in support of the sale, supply, storage or donation of energy, including petroleum and electricity, to or within Syria.

US sanctions on Assad and his associates, the Syrian government, the Central Bank of Syria and HTS remain in place, said the US Treasury.

'SUPPORT HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE'

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move showed goodwill toward the Syrian people rather than the new government.

"The end of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal and repressive rule, backed by Russia and Iran, provides a unique opportunity for Syria and its people to rebuild," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo in a statement.

"During this period of transition, Treasury will continue to support humanitarian assistance and responsible governance in Syria."

Maher Khalil al-Hasan, the trade minister in Syria's caretaker government, on Monday said the country is unable to make deals to import fuel, wheat or other key goods due to strict US sanctions despite many countries wanting to do so.

Syria faces a "catastrophe" if sanctions are not frozen or lifted soon, he said.

Washington wants to see HTS cooperate on priorities such as counterterrorism and forming a government inclusive of all Syrians.

Along with unilateral measures, HTS has also been on the UN Security Council Al-Qaeda and ISIS sanctions list for more than a decade, subject to a global assets freeze and arms embargo, though there is a humanitarian exemption.

Many diplomats acknowledge that the removal of sanctions could be used as leverage to ensure Syria's new authorities fulfill their commitments.

Diplomats and UN officials are also keen to avoid a repeat of difficulties in Afghanistan after the hardline Taliban took over in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after two decades of war.

Banks were wary of testing UN and US sanctions, leaving the UN and aid groups struggling to deliver enough cash to run operations and forcing the US to issue sanctions exemptions.