Patients and medics trapped by five-day Israeli siege on Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital

Surgeons forced to use unreliable bottled oxygen in operations instead of plumbed supply lines amid near-constant strikes on the medical complex

Kamal Adwan Hospital has faced five days of assault by the Israeli military, the hospital's director told The National. AFP

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Kamal Adwan Hospital is "surrounded" on all sides by Israeli forces in northern Gaza, its director said, after five days of attacks that have damaged oxygen delivery lines.

The hospital in Beit Lahia was struck by a quadcopter drone carrying bombs laden with shrapnel on Tuesday night and attacks continued into Wednesday, causing severe damage and inflicting serious injuries on people in the area, Dr Hossam Abu Safiya said.

"This attack injured three of our medical staff, one of whom was critically wounded and required a complex surgical operation in the operating room," he told The National on Wednesday. "Every movement outside the hospital’s walls poses a significant risk to lives, as the hospital is surrounded on all sides."

The World Health Organisation said the staff injured were a nurse, an X-ray technician and an administrative employee. Medical sources told Palestinian news agency Wafa the hospital has been unable to provide oxygen to all patients who need it after a strike late on Tuesday damaged supply lines. The shortage has put 100 lives in danger, the director of hospitals at Gaza's Ministry of Health said in a statement, as staff were blocked from moving them to the nearby Al Awda Hospital by Israeli forces.

Dr Abu Safiya said repairs were impossible as medical teams cannot leave the building without being attacked by drones. "We were forced to perform two surgeries for injured patients using oxygen cylinders instead of the central supply station, which significantly increases the risk to patients’ lives during procedures," he said.

Musab Abu Amira said he was concerned his brother, a patient at Kamal Adwan, would contract an infection as medical supplies to change his dressings are not available. The 34 year old said he and his sibling have been trapped inside Kamal Adwan for 10 days.

"Every day has been difficult, but honestly, yesterday and today have been the hardest," Mr Abu Amira said. "Multiple quadcopter drones are surrounding the hospital yard and gates, and any movement outside is targeted – they shoot or drop bombs directly."

"We’re genuinely afraid the army might storm the hospital at any moment, arresting and mistreating people like they’ve done before."

The Israeli military has mounted a number of attacks on the hospital, including troops storming the complex in October in an act WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said was "deeply disturbing".

He said the continuing attacks on the hospital "are depriving people of lifesaving care" and wrote on X: "We call for protection of all health workers, patients and health facilities, and an immediate ceasefire."

As well as risk of death by drone attack or air strike, shortages of equipment and medicine also pose a risk, Mr Abu Amira said.

"The hospital has no food, water is extremely scarce and there’s a severe shortage of medical supplies. My brother is supposed to have his wounds on his hand and abdomen dressed daily, but due to the lack of supplies it’s only done once every two or three days. His wounds are at high risk of severe infection and aren’t healing properly," he said. "The hospital also lacks doctors and medical staff – there are barely one or two doctors and a few nurses trying to manage all departments."

The dire conditions have left patients and their families in a state of constant anxiety and fear, with little hope for immediate relief amid wider siege in which very little aid is reaching the area.

"We are exhausted by the ongoing violence and atrocities," Dr Abu Safiya said. "Why are we subjected to such brutality? Every day, the hospital is systematically targeted."

Elsewhere in Gaza, residents in three towns – Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun – said Israeli forces blew up dozens of houses on Wednesday.

Palestinians say Israel's army is trying to drive them from the northern edge of Gaza with forced evictions and bombardment to create a buffer zone. The army denies this and says it has returned to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping in an area where it had previously cleared them out.

A ceasefire in Gaza looks unlikely at present, even as Lebanese group Hezbollah struck a deal with Israel last week. More than 44,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with 105,538 injured.