How Gaza’s hospitals became battlegrounds – Gulf News Qatar

Ongoing bombing, blackouts and power shortages have rendered almost all hospitals in the troubled northern Gaza Strip non-operational, a CNN analysis has found, with evidence showing that medical facilities and their vicinity are repeatedly attacked despite the presence of doctors, patients and civilians inside.

According to CNN, at least 20 of the 22 hospitals in northern Gaza were damaged or destroyed in the first two months of the conflict. Israel’s war on HamasFourteen people were directly attacked between October 7 and December 7, according to 45 satellite images and about 400 ground videos, as well as interviews with doctors, witnesses and humanitarian organizations, based on evidence collected and verified by CNN and analysis by experts.

Israel launched a bombing and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in Hamas terrorist attack on October 7At least 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 were taken hostage. According to Israeli statistics, at least 17,100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in the first two months of the war. Hamas-controlled Gaza Health MinistryAs of the time of publication, the figure is More than 23,400.

Israel says Hamas operates inside hospitals and underground and uses hospitals for military operations, including as command centers, weapons depots, and to hide hostages. Israel has released videos that they claim are evidence of Hamas operations. The videos do not provide conclusive evidence, and Hamas has denied the claims.

CNN sent the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) a list of hospitals confirmed to have been damaged or destroyed. In response, the IDF said it “did not conduct any targeted attacks on hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” adding that “Hamas systematically abuses hospitals and medical facilities.”

Tracking the impact of airstrikes on hospitals in northern Gaza sheds light on the scale and scope of the damage the war has inflicted on the region’s health systems, and the knock-on effects on the civilians who rely on these facilities for shelter and care, now more than ever.