Israel Bombs Indonesian Hospital in Gaza Hours before Truce

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Israeli army bombed the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza on Thursday evening, November 23. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel targeted the hospital's power generators, claiming that Hamas was hiding its command center in underground tunnels beneath the health facility.

 “The hospital was the target of heavy shooting aimed at power generators and most of the buildings,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra was quoted as saying by Anadolu.

The Israeli attack came just hours before the humanitarian truce with Hamas, which began Friday morning local time. Before launching the attack on the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Israel had ordered the hospital to be vacated.

The Israeli army wanted to enter the hospital to carry out a "military operation." Israel gave everyone inside just four hours to evacuate, Health Ministry Director General Munir Al-Borsh told Al-Jazeera.

"The lives of 200 patients and medical staff were threatened amidst the attacks," Ashraf al-Qudra said. So far, there has been no comment from the Israeli army regarding the report.

Dr Munir al-Brush, Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that the Indonesian Hospital has been surrounded by the Israeli military and attacks continued in areas around the hospital. Al-Bursh said there were about 200 patients left at the Indonesian Hospital after some 450 patients were evacuated on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, there are 65 bodies in the hospital that cannot be buried, 50 of them have been in the hospital garden for more than 10 days, Al-Borsh said.