LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Israel's military says its raid on the last remaining hospital in northern Gaza led to the arrest of suspected militants in the area. The raid shut down the hospital, and Israel detained its director and other staff. Despite months of intense and deadly airstrikes on northern Gaza that forced people to flee and leveled the territory, the hospital had still been treating patients. NPR's Aya Batrawy has the story. And a warning - you'll hear graphic descriptions of war and sounds of gunfire.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Kamal Adwan Hospital was the only one still functioning in northern Gaza with an intensive care unit and pediatric ward. It was a lifeline for thousands of people under siege.
(SOUNDBITE OF BABY WAILING)
BATRAWY: In this video from the hospital, a baby wails as nurses check him for injuries.
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BATRAWY: In another, wounded and unconscious children are shown connected to life support, with Kamal Adwan and its staff their only chance at survival.
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BATRAWY: Israel says its operation in Northern Gaza is aimed at Hamas brigades trying to regroup. Israel's been at war with Hamas since last year's October 7 attack that killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel and took hostages. Government spokesman David Mencer said last month the offensive had eviscerated Hamas in the north, but...
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DAVID MENCER: Hamas have not surrendered. Would that they lay down their arms and return our hostages, that really would be the end of the conflict.
BATRAWY: In the military's search for tunnels, weapons and fighters, Kamal Adwan Hospital found itself on the front lines of war, raided more than once before being shut down this weekend. The hospital's director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, continued to work even as the hospital was targeted for months.
HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: He told NPR earlier this month the hospital's closure would mean the end of life itself in north Gaza, where Palestinians fear permanent expulsion. Hospital staff shared audio memos with NPR in the days before it was shut down.
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BATRAWY: Gunfire and shelling can be heard. Israeli attacks killed at least 22 doctors, nurses and medics at or near the hospital in past weeks. They're among more than 45,000 Palestinians Gaza's health ministry says have been killed in the war.
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BATRAWY: Dr. Abu Safiya is seen in a video shared online last month, trying to resuscitate a male patient as Israeli strikes boom all around.
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ABU SAFIYA: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: Staff and patients, including Dr. Abu Safiya, were wounded while at the hospital. He sustained an injury to his thigh last month. From the hospital bed where he was being treated, he posted a video message on social media, saying he and others would continue treating patients.
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ABU SAFIYA: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: He says, "We will keep providing services, no matter the cost."
The cost proved steep. Dr. Abu Safiya moved his family to shelter with him at the hospital. Despite that, the doctor's 21-year-old son was killed in an Israeli strike at the hospital's gates.
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ABU SAFIYA: (Non-English language spoken, crying).
BATRAWY: Dr. Abu Safiya buried him on the hospital grounds in October. And he was not the only doctor to mourn his family. In this video shared with NPR, Dr. Nahed Ghoneim leaves the emergency room to find a mound of debris and twisted steel where the home he was sheltering in had stood. He yells out for anyone to respond.
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NAHED GHONEIM: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: All 14 of his relatives, including his wife and five children, were killed in that Israeli airstrike. And only a day earlier, cardiologist Hani Badran lost his parents, wife and six children - the eldest just 14 years old - in a similar Israeli strike on his home. Also killed were his sister and her newborn baby he'd helped deliver.
HANI BADRAN: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: He told NPR there are no words to describe his agony.
In the hospital's final moments Friday, an Israeli drone is heard ordering Kamal Adwan's staff into the courtyard.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: The video - aired on Israel's Channel 14 - shows Dr. Abu Safiya in his white medical coat, alone, approaching an Israeli tank.
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UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: (Speaking Arabic).
BATRAWY: A soldier tells him to step inside. The two shake hands briefly. The military says it found weapons and detained 240 suspected militants in the area. It says it was one of the biggest operations to detain people alleged to have been involved in the attack on Israel last year that sparked the war. Among those detained is Dr. Abu Safiya. Despite previous raids on Kamal Adwan, he'd never been accused until now of what the military says is potential involvement with Hamas. Amnesty International and others are calling on Israel to release him and hundreds of Palestinian medics detained in the war, with concerns over their treatment and safety. The U.S. World Health Organization says it's appalled by the hospital's closure, which puts the lives of thousands of people still in the north at even greater risk.
Aya Batrawy, NPR News, with reporting by Anas Baba.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAUL LEONARD-MORGAN AND PHILIP GLASS' "TALES FROM THE LOOP") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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