Al-Awda Hospital is a hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The hospital provides basic medical care, with an emergency room and obstetric services for women in the northern Gaza Strip.
| Al-Awda Hospital | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Gaza Governorate, Palestinian territories |
| Coordinates | 31°31′47.47″N 34°28′47.2″E / 31.5298528°N 34.479778°E |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Emergency room, maternity ward |
| Type | Treatment |
| History | |
| Opened | 1997 |
| Closed | 2024 (part of Israel-Hamas War)[1] |
The hospital has the largest delivery room in the district and is the only one that provides fluoroscopy services. It runs training programs for nursing students in cooperation with universities in the Gaza Strip.
In October 2024, during the Israel-Hamas War, Israeli warplanes bombed the hospital at least three times; Israeli tanks also besieged the facility twice, once in December 2023 and again in October 2024, with the latter siege trapping 163 people in the hospital and drawing ire from Relief International and the World Health Organization.[2][3]
Israel has killed Doctors Without Borders staff at the facility.[4]
Gaza War (2008–2009)
editIn 2009 an ambulance operating out of Al-Awda hospital in the northern city of Beit Lahiya was shelled, seriously injuring 4 medical staff.[5]
Israel-Hamas War (2023–present)
editThe World Health Organization (WHO) strongly condemned Israel's repeated orders to evacuate al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, calling it a death sentence for the sick and wounded.[6] On 10 November, an Israeli strike was reported near Al-Awda Hospital, resulting in damage to an ambulance.[7] On 21 November, Doctors Without Borders stated two of its doctors had been killed by a strike on the hospital.[8] On 1 December, Doctors Without Borders stated the hospital had been damaged in a bombing.[9]
2023 siege
editOn 13 December, Jacobin reported that 240 people were trapped at al-Awda, surrounded by Israeli snipers, without clean water and surviving on one meal per day of bread or rice.[10] A staffer at the hospital reported Israeli snipers had shot at a one pregnant civilian at the hospital.[11] A hospital monitoring manager stated a nurse had been killed by an Israeli sniper on the hospital's fourth floor through the window.[12] On 14 December, the Gaza Health Ministry stated their fear that after the Israeli raid of Kamal Adwan Hospital was complete, al-Awda would be their next target.[13]
Renzo Fricke, an official at Doctors Without Borders, stated, "Reports coming out of Al-Awda hospital are harrowing and we are gravely worried for safety of patients and staff inside".[14] On 17 December, the hospital director stated they were running low on water, food, oxygen, and medications.[15] On December 19, reports emerged that Israeli forces have converted the hospital into their own 'military barracks'. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 240 Palestinians, including staff and patients, are being held inside.[16]
Doctors Without Borders reported Israeli troops seized Al Awda, with troops stripping, bounding, and interrogating all men and boys over the age of sixteen.[17] Soldiers continued holding the hospital[18] and in its premises they arrested Adnan al-Bursh, head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa Hospital, later died in Israeli prison.[19]
May 2024 attack
editIn May 2024, the World Health Organization issued an alert for the hospital, with chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stating, "Medical staff inside the hospital reported an attack on 20 May, with snipers aiming at the building and an artillery rocket hitting the fifth floor".[20] According to an Al-Awda doctor, medical staff were forced to leave the hospital the following day.[21] Doctors Without Borders stated that after a four day siege, the hospital was "being forced to close".[22] When Israeli forces stormed the hospital on 23 May, Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "WHO urgently calls for the protection of patients, companions and health workers inside the hospital and safe passage for their evacuation".[23]
References
edit- ^ "Gaza's last working hospitals face shutdown due to lack of fuel and medical supplies". The National. 24 May 2024.
- ^ Redmond, Craig. "An urgent call to save the staff and patients of Gaza's al-Awda Hospital". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ "Northern Gaza: Al-Awda hospital, one of the area's last functioning health facilities, may be forced to cease operations - Relief International". www.ri.org. 2024-10-24. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ "Gaza: MSF doctors killed in strike on Al-Awda Hospital | Doctors Without Borders - USA". www.doctorswithoutborders.org. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ "Situation Report from the Humanitarian Coordinator - 4 January 2009 as of 17:00" (PDF). UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ^ "Evacuation orders by Israel to hospitals in northern Gaza are a death sentence for the sick and injured". www.who.int.
- ^ Gadzo, Mersiha; Pietromarchi, Virginia; Mohamed, Edna. "As Israeli tanks surround hospitals, UN calls northern Gaza 'hell on Earth'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
- ^ "MSF doctors killed in strike on Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza". Doctors Without Borders. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "MSF says Gaza's al-Awda Hospital 'damaged' in Israeli blast". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Marcetic, Branko. "As Israel Besieges al-Awda Hospital, War Crimes in Gaza Have Become Unremarkable". Jacobin. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ Ludwig, Mike. "IDF Shot at Pregnant Civilian Outside Gaza Hospital Under Siege, Staffer Says". Truthout. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ "Al-Awda Hospital in north Gaza under siege, Israeli sniper kills two". Jordan News. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ Patil, Anushka. "Israeli forces raid another hospital and detain doctors, Gaza's health ministry says". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ "Northern Gaza: MSF surgeon injured in Al-Awda hospital". Doctors Without Borders. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ "Staff at Gaza's al-Awda Hospital in strong spirits amid 'severe siege', director says". The New Arab. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ "Israeli army has turned Al-Awda Hospital into 'military barracks': Gaza-based Health Ministry". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- ^ "Israeli forces taken control of al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza, says MSF". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ Jobain, Najib; Magdy, Samy. "Israeli airstrikes kill dozens more Palestinians across the Gaza Strip". Stars and Stripes. Associated Press. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ Palestinian doctor dies in Israeli prison, BBC news, 3 May 2024.
- ^ "Gaza: WHO chief calls for end to latest hospital siege". UN News. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Doctor recounts being displaced from al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "MSF sounds alarm on situation at al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "WHO chief makes 'urgent' appeal as Israeli forces storm Gaza's al-Awda Hospital". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 June 2024.