W.H.O Says It Has Lost Contact With Key Gaza Hospital After Israeli Raid

The director of the World Health Organization said on Friday that it had lost contact with the staff at one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza after health officials in the enclave said Israeli troops had raided the facility. The Israeli military said only that it was “operating in the area” of the hospital.

The Gaza health ministry on Friday said that Israeli forces had stormed the facility, Kamal Adwan Hospital, and were “detaining hundreds of patients, medical staff and some displaced people.” On Friday night, the ministry said that the situation was “alarmingly deteriorating” as Israeli troops searched the hospital and fired shots, causing panic among the 600 people inside. Two children in the intensive care unit died after generators stopped operating, the ministry said.

The Israeli military’s statement did not address those claims, but said its operation in the area was based on intelligence that “terrorists and terrorist infrastructure” may be there.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the W.H.O. director, said in a statement that a team from the organization had been at the hospital on Thursday night to deliver supplies. Losing contact with the hospital was “deeply disturbing given the number of patients being served and people sheltering there,” he said on X.

Israeli forces had previously besieged and raided Kamal Adwan Hospital last December and detained its director. This month, the Gaza health ministry said the hospital was one of three that the Israeli military had ordered to evacuate as its forces launched a new offensive targeting what it said was a Hamas resurgence.

Mr. Ghebreyesus said W.H.O. staff members on Thursday had escorted 23 patients and 26 caregivers to another hospital in the territory. The Israeli military helped coordinate the organization’s aid efforts on Thursday, according to the Israeli government agency that oversees its policy in Gaza, COGAT. The Israeli military also said it had facilitated “the evacuation of patients from the area while maintaining emergency services” in recent weeks.