Israel targets Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital: Here is what’s to know

On Monday, there was reportedly a lot of fighting near Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital.

After at least 12 Palestinians were killed in the complex by artillery fire, Israeli tanks surrounded the hospital in northern Gaza.

What you need to know is as follows:

What’s going on at the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza?

At least 12 people were killed when a shell hit the Indonesian Hospital’s second floor, according to an insider and the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.

Al Jazeera was informed by Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, that “the situation is catastrophic.”

“The staff at the Indonesian Hospital is adamant that they remain to provide care for the injured. The hospital is home to about 700 people, including medical professionals and injured patients, according to him.

Three Indonesian volunteers who were a part of the team that established the hospital in 2016 with funding from the nation, according to Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry, had lost contact with them.

Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (656 feet) away from the hospital, according to Marwan Abdallah, a medical professional at the Indonesian Hospital, and Israeli snipers could be seen on nearby building roofs.

Al Jazeera was informed by another medical professional that the hospital building’s entrance, windows, and other areas are all subject to intense and indiscriminate shelling. The hospital’s entire staff has gathered in the main building, according to the medic.

The Indonesian Hospital is where?

The hospital is situated in Beit Lahiya, a city of about 90,000 people in north Gaza. The Gaza government donated 16, 000 square meters (172, 200 square feet) of land in 2011.

Hundreds of displaced people who sought asylum there have been housed in the hospital. The Jabalia refugee camp is also nearby.

Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked the hospital’s vicinity, killing at least two civilians between October 7 and October 28, according to Human Rights Watch.

The hospital’s construction cost close to $8 million. The Muhammadiyah Society, one of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organizations, and the Indonesian Red Cross Society both contributed to its funding.

Israel has said what?

Israel has long charged Hamas with setting up command posts and concealing weapons at hospitals and other public locations.

In claims similar to those Israel has made against al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the army has previously stated that it thinks the Indonesian Hospital was constructed using a Hamas tunnel system. The main hospital in the Gaza Strip, Al-Shifa, has been the subject of Israeli bombardment for several weeks.

Israel’s targeting of Palestinian hospitals: why?

Israel’s attacks on hospitals have become almost a central theme of the conflict six weeks into its war with Gaza. At least 21 of Gaza’s 35 hospitals, including the lone cancer center on the Strip, are completely unmaintained, while others have suffered damage and are short on supplies.

Israel “convinced” the world that al-Shifa Hospital was Hamas’ headquarters because it was the simplest way for them to invade Gaza, according to commentator Taghreed El-Khodary.

They are aware that going to Gaza City to impose a sort of military headquarters for them is the safest course of action. They were unable to originate in the east. They are currently going to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya to impose a second headquarters so they can attack and kill more civilians, according to El-Khodary, who spoke to Al Jazeera.

This is psychological warfare, according to Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs based in Doha.

According to Rahman, Israel acts with “total impunity,” and attacking hospitals “tells the populace that nowhere for [Palestinians] is safe.”

Making Palestinians feel unsafe in every facility in the Gaza Strip, according to senior Palestine analyst Tahani Mustafa of the International Crisis Group, puts an end to any resistance.

Source: Aljazeera