Israeli forces raid the largest hospital in northern Gaza WHO: The hospital suspended operations

Israeli forces have raided the largest hospital in northern Gaza, detaining more than 240 Palestinians, including the hospital director and medical staff. The World Health Organization says the hospital is no longer operational and empty.

Gaza's health ministry said Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza on Friday and detained more than 240 Palestinians, including dozens of medical staff. And its dean, Hussam Abu Safiya. The health ministry was concerned for Safia's safety after some of the workers released later in the day said he had been beaten by Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli army said Saturday that the raid on the "Hamas command center" in Kamal Adwan Hospital had ended; The detainees were all suspected militants, and the military took Safia in for questioning on suspicion that he was a member of Hamas.

In the more than a year of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel has carried out several raids on the hospital. Hamas on Friday disputed Israel's claim that no Hamas members were in the hospital, but the group has not commented on the 240 detentions.

Hamas issued a statement Saturday urging the United Nations and relevant international agencies to intervene urgently to protect the remaining hospitals and medical facilities in northern Gaza and provide them with supplies. Hamas also called on the United Nations to send observers to Gaza medical facilities, refuting Israeli allegations that they are being used for military purposes.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is one of three medical facilities in northern Gaza and the largest hospital in the area. The World Health Organization said Saturday that the attack shut down the hospital, which is now empty.

In a statement, the WHO expressed alarm at Friday's raid, saying Kamal Adwan Hospital had "once again become a battlefield." "The systematic destruction of the health care system and the siege of northern Gaza for more than 80 days put the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians who remain in the area at risk."

The hospital also has 15 critically ill patients, 50 paramedics and 20 health workers who have been transferred to the Indonesian Hospital, which is said to have been destroyed and is not functioning. The WHO says transferring and treating these critically ill patients in such conditions poses a serious threat to their survival.

"Who is deeply concerned about their health, as well as the health of the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital."

The WHO also said initial reports indicated that some areas of the hospital were severely damaged in the attack, including laboratories, surgical, engineering and maintenance departments, operating rooms and medical warehouses.

Israel has intensified its attacks on northern Gaza since October. Of the 21 medical teams sent to Kamal Adwan hospital between early October and December, only 10 received partial assistance and the deployment of the international Emergency Medical Team was "repeatedly denied", the WHO said.

The World Health Organization says there have been at least 50 attacks on or around hospitals since the beginning of October. "Kamal Adwan Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital are completely out of service, and Al-Awda Hospital, although barely functioning, has been severely damaged by the recent airstrikes, and the medical lifeline for the residents of northern Gaza is on the verge of collapse."

Who's calls to urgently ensure that hospitals in northern Gaza can be supported and reopened, stressing that health facilities, staff and patients must be actively protected and never attacked or used for military purposes, "remain unheeded".