GENEVA - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it has regained contact with staff at a besieged northern Gaza hospital, finding that three health workers had been injured and 44 detained.

       Kamal Adwan Hospital, northern Gaza’s last functioning hospital, “is still under siege, but we managed to get in touch with the staff”, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X late on Oct 25.

       “Three health workers and another employee have been injured, 44 health workers have been detained, and four ambulances damaged,” he said.

       On Oct 25, Gaza’s Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of storming Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp, where they launched a major operation earlier in the month.

       It said the raid left two children dead, and accused the Israeli forces of detaining hundreds of staff, patients and displaced people during the raid.

       The Israeli military said its forces were operating around Kamal Adwan Hospital, but was “not aware of live fire and strikes in the area of the hospital”.

       Amid the chaos, WHO said on the afternoon of Oct 25 that it had lost contact with staff at the hospital, with Dr Tedros describing the development in an earlier post on X as “deeply disturbing”.

       He said the WHO and partner agencies had reached the hospital late on the night of Oct 23 and managed to transfer 23 patients and 26 caregivers to the Palestinian territory’s main Al-Shifa Hospital.

       “Kamal Adwan Hospital has been overflowing with close to 200 patients – a constant stream of horrific trauma cases. It is also full of hundreds of people seeking shelter,” he added.

       In his second post, Dr Tedros highlighted that, in all, “around 600 patients, health workers and individuals are currently sheltering in the hospital”.

       “The siege and attacks on health workers occurred just hours after the WHO-led mission, which delivered essential supplies to keep the facility operational and took critical patients to Al-Shifa Hospital,” he said.

       “We urge for hospitals, health workers and patients to be protected. Ceasefire!” AFP