Israeli Attacks Force Shut Down One Of Last Remaining Hospitals In Rafah
On May 27, a day after the Israeli bombing of a tent shelter which killed over 45 Palestinians and injured several others, Israel conducted repeated attacks against one of the two remaining hospitals in Rafah, Kuwaiti Hospital, forcing it to shut down.
Kuwaiti Hospital was one of the only two major hospitals still functioning in Rafah, since the Israeli war has shut down or destroyed most others. Many of the 250 people injured by the Israeli attack on Sunday were being treated in the hospital.
At least two on-duty health workers were killed in an Israeli attack near the entry of the hospital. At least five other medical staff from the hospital were injured in previous attacks.
According to the latest reports, Israeli forces also attacked a separate hospital, the Indonesian Field Hospital (now the last remaining hospital), in Rafah later on May 7, trapping all medical staff inside.
A statement issued by the director of the Kuwaiti hospital, Suhaib al-Hams, claimed that shutting down the hospital was the only option left, given Israel’s repeated assaults on the medical facilities in Rafah and in other parts of Gaza since October 7.
The statement, however, claimed that the staff of the Kuwaiti Hospital would be transferred to a field hospital being prepared in the vicinity.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza called the attack on Kuwait hospitals on Monday a “heinous crime” and a part of an Israeli attempt to destroy the health system in the Palestinian territory completely.
Press Release provided by the Peoples Dispatch / Globetrotter News Service