Israeli Troops Evacuate Patients from Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital Amid Conflict

Cairo: Israeli military forces evacuated the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, displacing patients and staff on Tuesday, according to Gaza's health ministry. Many of the patients, some forced to travel on foot, reached another medical facility in Gaza City.

The Indonesian Hospital, one of the few remaining partially operational medical centers in northern Gaza, has been under siege in an area marked by intense Israeli military action for nearly three months. Israel states its operations in northern Gaza—targeting areas like Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia—are aimed at Hamas fighters.

Palestinian authorities, however, accuse Israel of attempting to depopulate northern Gaza permanently to create a buffer zone.

Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in Gaza, reported that Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital on Monday, storming the premises early Tuesday. Two additional hospitals in the region, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, have faced repeated assaults, causing severe damage to medical equipment, including generators and oxygen pumps.

Hospital officials have defied Israel’s evacuation orders, refusing to abandon their patients despite escalating attacks since October 5.

Israel asserts it has coordinated with international agencies, including the World Health Organization, to facilitate the transfer of patients and provide medical supplies and fuel to hospitals in the conflict zone.

Death Toll and Intensified Violence

The Gaza health ministry announced that 21 people were killed in the past 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 45,338 since the start of the conflict. Over 107,000 people have been wounded in more than 14 months of violence.

Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed nine Palestinians on Tuesday, including a civil emergency worker. The violence has also escalated in the occupied West Bank, where two Palestinians—a 53-year-old woman and an 18-year-old man—were killed during an Israeli military raid at the Tulkarem refugee camp.

West Bank violence has surged since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, with over 805 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers during this period, according to the Palestinian health ministry.