Kamal Adwan Hospital: In search of the truth in what Sulafa Makhoul said

If the IDF committed an atrocity, a war crime, a crime against humanity, I want to look the truth in the eyes.

As much as it would wrack me in pain, if I were to learn that the IDF committed war crimes in Gaza, I would want to know. That is why I attended a conference this past Friday, a conference that claimed it would present the audience with testimonies of wrongdoing on the part of our soldiers. Yes, I know that immediately makes one think of the NGO ‘Breaking the Silence,’ an organization that has been vilified by many and whose testimonies have largely been debunked, but maybe this time there is something I need to hear. I refuse to stay in a bubble; I refuse to listen to only what I want to hear.

This is an introduction to a series of articles based on what I heard that afternoon.

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On Friday, 25 October, I attended an event in Tel Aviv entitled: ‘A year of destruction: War Testimonies.’ Organizers advertised it as an “Israeli-Palestinian peace movements conference to mark a year of war.”

Following the event, the links to two YouTube recordings (it was a very long meeting) were sent to the ‘Partners for Peace’ WhatsApp group along with the self-congratulatory message that this was a “moving and powerful event” attended by hundreds of people who “gathered to hear Israeli and Palestinian testimonies of pain and destruction.” (Recording for first section of the event)

In this brief report, I wish only to explore one claim in the opening remarks by actress and Israeli Communist Party activist Sulafa Makhoul in which she wondered how it is possible for the atrocities to get even worse,

more murders, more massacres, more house demolitions, more hospital demolitions. Just last night as we were preparing this conference, Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, they blew it up and more than 15 children on ventilators died and that is the morning we woke up to. [emphasis mine]

I had not heard of the recent destruction of any hospital and the thought of children being killed in a hospital operation is unbearable to me. For now, I will ignore the first part of the quote and only present what I found when I looked for information on the hospital.

Let’s tell the story in “X” posts:

Oct 22, Abu Ali Express English writes:

Palestinians report that Israeli drones are broadcasting evacuation orders to Palestinians in the vicinity of Khalifa bin Rashid School and near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip,

On Oct 24, Translating Falasteen (Palestine) posted this:

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, reports that the hospital was suddenly besieged by Israeli tanks and bulldozers, with announcements over loudspeakers demanding that everyone leave the building. The attack caused severe damage, especially in the ICU. Inside the hospital, over 160 injured people remain, with 5 newborns in incubators and multiple children on ventilators. Despite expecting medical supplies and blood from the World Health Organization, Israeli forces surrounded the hospital instead, preventing ambulances from leaving and causing panic among the children. The situation is dire, with lives at risk if aid does not arrive soon.

Dr Safiya was quoted in other posts and in several news reports as having said, “Instead of receiving aid, we receive tanks.”

So what do we say about the video in this post that shows trucks bringing diesel fuel and medical equipment to the hospital?

This is supported by a TOI report that claims that:

COGAT [Israeli civil administration coordinator for activities in the PA] also said it allowed the transfer of one fuel truck, “180 blood units, and a truckload of medical equipment” donated by UN agencies to the hospital.

And The National, a news site based in the UAE, endorsed that, adding that critical patients had been moved to Al Shifa Hospital.

It is curious that Dr Safiya says that the raid was sudden when drones told people to leave the hospital and vicinity two days earlier, as reported in a number of posts such as that by Abu Ali Express English, above. And, in fact, the town of Beit Lahia and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp were under drone and artillery attacks for over two weeks before the raid on the hospital.

On 26 Oct, following the raid, aid worker and flying doctor Anne Sparrow posted:

In northern Gaza Israeli forces “raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few medical facilities still functioning in the area, leading to the death of two children in the intensive care unit after generators stopped operating.”

Two deaths, not 15? Sulafa Makhoul said more than 15 kids were killed in the raid.

Two dead children are two too many. But where did Makhoul get the figure, 15? Perhaps she confused it with a Gaza Health Ministry claim in March that 15 children died of malnutrition in that hospital, or the fact Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor wrote that the lives of 15 intensive care patients were threatened by that raid, threatened, not killed.

Perhaps, in her horror at what is happening in Gaza — and I am not indifferent to the horrors — she got this mixed up. I wonder if she would issue a correction if I told her that it was two child deaths and not more than 15. I would not like social media to share the lie that 15 kids were killed in that raid. Truth is truth, after all. And two is bad enough. No exaggerations necessary.

Curious, this…

It is interesting that all news reports I found in both pro-Israeli and anti-Israeli outlets talk about the arrest of 44 suspects and the quick release of 14 of these rather than stating that 30 were detained, meaning they are still strongly suspected of being terrorists. To me, that sounds a bit different.

And perhaps it may interest you to know that Kamal Adwan Hospital was used as a Hamas command center in the past. In Dec 2023, according to Israel National News, 80 terrorists were apprehended in the hospital, including some who had taken part in the Oct 7th atrocities. In addition, weapons, important documents, and communications equipment were apprehended; hospital staff admitted to the use of NICU incubators for hiding weapons.

And lastly, Makhoul said in her opening statement that the hospital was blown up. Maybe it’s me, but does ‘blown up’ not mean totally destroyed?

While it is looking terrible, I do not think anyone can say the place was blown up. Jordanian Dr Zian Abbadi posts this video:

OOF

I try to maintain my objectivity in reporting — my opinion articles clearly show my bias and I make no apologies for that. I was hoping that this article, however, would provide the vehicle by means of which readers could say — she is just reporting the facts, not slanted toward Israel. She is truly a voice we can trust.

But I fear that this article does not clear me of accusations of pro-Israel bias. Judge for yourselves.

An editorial comment, by the way….

Let me just end by saying that Kamal Adwan Hospital would be fully operational and untouched in any way had Hamas not decided to violate the ceasefire that was in effect until 6:30 Saturday morning, October 7th, 2023.

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