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Israel detains the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals during a raid

Israel repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan Hospital but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that.

Israel detains the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals during a raid

Israel repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan Hospital but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that.

Well, not *** lot of detail was provided about the specifics of the call between Netanyahu and Trump. But there's enough there that we can kind of read between the lines and understand the critical timing of that conversation and what it tells us about the kind of broader pattern here we know that the Israeli Prime Minister spoke with President Elect Trump about the ongoing negotiations to try and reach *** cease fire and hostage deal. The Israeli Prime Minister himself has said that they spoke about the need to complete Israel's victory but also about the need to free the hostages. And so you can hear in that certainly that the Israeli Prime Minister is trying to make the case for both getting to *** deal, but also perhaps not the war in Gaza altogether until Hamas is completely defeated as he continues to kind of pursue this total victory that he has promised the Israeli public since October 7th of last year. What we also know though is that the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration have been really working quite closely together to try and see if *** deal is achievable and not necessarily that that deal would have to wait until President elect Trump takes the oath of office on January 20th. Rather, when we saw the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan here in Tel Aviv last week, he talked about his hope that through his travels in Israel, but then subsequently to Cairo and to Doha that he could put in place what would be needed to get *** deal by the end of the month. And so that seems to be what all of the parties are racing towards is to see whether or not in the coming weeks, if *** deal can indeed be put together. We heard the Israeli Defense Minister today say in ***, as he was testifying before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the knesset, the Israeli Parliament, that *** deal is quote closer than ever. We have of course heard such such optimistic pronouncements from other officials in the past and Jake Sullivan was very cautious on Friday to say, you know, I've been optimistic before. We thought we were close before and we did not get there. So they don't wanna uh say that *** deal is done until it actually is, but certainly there is cause for optimism and uh the the parties seem to be narrowing uh the gaps, how soon they can actually do that and whether they can get it over the finish line is anyone's guess at this point.
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Israel detains the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals during a raid

Israel repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan Hospital but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that.

Israel's army detained the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals as overnight strikes elsewhere in the territory killed nine people, including children, Palestinian medical officials said Saturday. Israel's military alleged that Hamas militants were using the facility and said over 240 people were detained.Related video above: Trump's call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (12/17/24) Gaza's Health Ministry said Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was arrested Friday along with dozens of other staff and taken to an interrogation center. The ministry said Israeli troops stormed the hospital and forced many staff and patients outside, and told them to strip in winter weather, according to the ministry.Israel's military on Saturday confirmed it detained the hospital director and called him a suspected Hamas operative while providing no evidence. It said it encircled the hospital, and special forces entered and found weapons in the area. It said militants fired on its forces and that they were "eliminated."On Friday, the military denied it had entered or set fire to the hospital complex but acknowledged it had ordered people outside. The military repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that.The hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive in largely isolated northern Gaza against Hamas fighters it says have regrouped. The health ministry said a strike on the hospital earlier this week killed five medical personnel.MedGlobal, the humanitarian organization for which Abu Safiya worked, said Friday it was gravely concerned about him. It said the incident follows the October detention of five other staff, calling it an "alarming and egregious pattern of targeting medical personnel and spaces."Israel's nearly 15-month-old campaign of bombardment and ground offensives has devastated Gaza's health sector. The World Health Organization has said the raid on Kamal Adwan has put northern Gaza's last major health facility "out of service" after growing restrictions on access, adding that "this horror must end and health care must be protected."The Health Ministry said conditions for Kamal Adwan patients who were relocated to the damaged Indonesian Hospital nearby — also raided in the past — were "extremely difficult."The Israeli military statement Saturday said 350 patients, along with medical personnel, had been evacuated from Kamal Adwan in recent weeks, and another 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital during the operation. It also said it had provided fuel and medical supplies to both hospitals.The war has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, over half of them women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 others, according to the Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.Since October, Israel's offensive has virtually sealed off the northern Gaza areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and leveled large parts of them. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced out, but thousands are believed to remain in the area where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located.Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the militants' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which they killed around 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others. Some 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, and around a third are believed to be dead.Israel continued attacks across Gaza on Saturday. An overnight strike killed at least nine people in Maghazi, including women and children, according to staff at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where they were taken and an Associated Press reporter who saw the bodies.Men cried as the bodies, wrapped in bloodied white plastic, lay on the floor of the morgue.The Health Ministry said Saturday that 48 people had been killed in the past 24 hours by Israeli fire.Meanwhile, Israel said its troops had begun operating in the northern city of Beit Hanoun, citing intelligence that fighters and Hamas infrastructure were in the area.Strikes also continued in Israel. Air raid sirens sounded early Saturday, and the military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.Israeli warplanes bombed key infrastructure in Yemen again on Thursday. The Houthis also have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and say they won't stop until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza.___Mednick reported from Jerusalem.

Israel's army detained the director of one of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals as overnight strikes elsewhere in the territory killed nine people, including children, Palestinian medical officials said Saturday. Israel's military alleged that Hamas militants were using the facility and said over 240 people were detained.

Related video above: Trump's call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (12/17/24)

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Gaza's Health Ministry said Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was arrested Friday along with dozens of other staff and taken to an interrogation center. The ministry said Israeli troops stormed the hospital and forced many staff and patients outside, and told them to strip in winter weather, according to the ministry.

Israel's military on Saturday confirmed it detained the hospital director and called him a suspected Hamas operative while providing no evidence. It said it encircled the hospital, and special forces entered and found weapons in the area. It said militants fired on its forces and that they were "eliminated."

On Friday, the military denied it had entered or set fire to the hospital complex but acknowledged it had ordered people outside. The military repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that.

The hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive in largely isolated northern Gaza against Hamas fighters it says have regrouped. The health ministry said a strike on the hospital earlier this week killed five medical personnel.

MedGlobal, the humanitarian organization for which Abu Safiya worked, said Friday it was gravely concerned about him. It said the incident follows the October detention of five other staff, calling it an "alarming and egregious pattern of targeting medical personnel and spaces."

Israel's nearly 15-month-old campaign of bombardment and ground offensives has devastated Gaza's health sector. The World Health Organization has said the raid on Kamal Adwan has put northern Gaza's last major health facility "out of service" after growing restrictions on access, adding that "this horror must end and health care must be protected."

The Health Ministry said conditions for Kamal Adwan patients who were relocated to the damaged Indonesian Hospital nearby — also raided in the past — were "extremely difficult."

The Israeli military statement Saturday said 350 patients, along with medical personnel, had been evacuated from Kamal Adwan in recent weeks, and another 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital during the operation. It also said it had provided fuel and medical supplies to both hospitals.

The war has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, over half of them women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 others, according to the Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Since October, Israel's offensive has virtually sealed off the northern Gaza areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and leveled large parts of them. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced out, but thousands are believed to remain in the area where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the militants' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which they killed around 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others. Some 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, and around a third are believed to be dead.

Israel continued attacks across Gaza on Saturday. An overnight strike killed at least nine people in Maghazi, including women and children, according to staff at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where they were taken and an Associated Press reporter who saw the bodies.

Men cried as the bodies, wrapped in bloodied white plastic, lay on the floor of the morgue.

The Health Ministry said Saturday that 48 people had been killed in the past 24 hours by Israeli fire.

Meanwhile, Israel said its troops had begun operating in the northern city of Beit Hanoun, citing intelligence that fighters and Hamas infrastructure were in the area.

Strikes also continued in Israel. Air raid sirens sounded early Saturday, and the military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Israeli warplanes bombed key infrastructure in Yemen again on Thursday. The Houthis also have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and say they won't stop until Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza.

___

Mednick reported from Jerusalem.