Hospitals under siege
Northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital is the latest in the Strip to shut down completely, Al Jazeera reports.
Having run out of fuel for the hospital's main generator, the hospital - which also houses 5,000 displaced people - has had to shut down its operations.
On Sunday, Al-Quds Hospital, Gaza's second-largest medical facility, was also forced to close due to a lack of fuel, said the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Al-Shifa Hospital has also been shut down amid chaotic scenes. Israeli snipers continue to shoot at anyone seen in the grounds of the hospital, according to reports. Three nurses have been killed, while critical infrastructure, including the oxygen station, water tanks and a well, the cardiovascular facility, and the maternity ward, was damaged, the UN's Ocha agency reports.
On Saturday afternoon, an airstrike reportedly hit and destroyed the Swedish clinic in Ash Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza city, where some 500 displaced people were sheltering. The casualty toll remains unclear. Overnight (11-12 November), another airstrike hit Al Mahdi Hospital in Gaza City, reportedly killing two doctors and injuring others.
Hospitals and medical personnel are specifically protected under international humanitarian law (IHL). "They must not be used to shield military objectives from attack," notes Ocha. "Any military operation around or within hospitals must take steps to spare and protect the patients, medical staff, and other civilians. All feasible precautions must be taken, including effective warnings, which consider the ability of patients, medical staff and other civilians to evacuate safely."
The Israeli military, meanwhile, has just released a video which it says shows Israeli personnel delivering cans of fuel to Al Shifa hospital. Even before the latest carnage, Al-Shifa - the largest hospital in Gaza - needed around 10,000 litres of fuel a day.
[An Israeli army soldier walks towards a building structure carrying gallon containers, as they say, while delivering fuel to Al Shifa hospital, in a location given as Gaza, in this screengrab taken from a handout video released on November 12, 2023. Israeli Army/Handout via Reuters]
