[11][12] The Kamal Adwan Hospital was a site of conflict during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war following the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
[17][18] The head of pediatrics stated the IDF had ordered all men and boys above age 16 to leave the hospital to be searched.
[20] The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated he was "extremely worried" about the situation at Kamal Adwan.
[23] On 14 December, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 2,500 internally displaced persons had been forcibly evacuated, and that IDF soldiers had prevented medical staff from continuing support to 12 babies in intensive care and ten emergency department patients, leading to two deaths.
"[26] One reporter described "a terrifying massacre and unspeakable scenes" and stating, "Dozens of displaced, sick and wounded people were buried alive".
[30] Israel claims that the hospital was used by Hamas for military purposes, arguing that this invalidated the protection provided by the Geneva Conventions.
[33] On 19 December, Israeli security agency, Shin Bet, released a video of Kahlout confessed to being a Hamas militant and said the hospital was being used for military purposes.
"[33] In May 2024, Israel bombed the vicinity of the hospital, which the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on 19 May was "deeply worrisome".
[44] Upon Israel's withdrawal from the Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency stated that the Israeli military had destroyed the hospital's main electrical generators.
[16] In October 2024 during the siege of Northern Gaza, the Israeli military ordered the complete evacuation of the Kamal Adwan Hospital within 24 hours.
[49] As Israel's deadline for evacuation, the Israeli army was reported to be advancing on the hospital while "committing massacres against civilians".
[65] On 4 November 2024, the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote that shortly after a WHO mission, a reported attack on the third floor injured six child patients.
[66] The same day, the health ministry stated that there were "many" injuries amongst patients and staff following Israel "violently bombard[ing]" the hospital.
[2][6][5] The IDF stated that it had provided advanced warnings to civilians and staff, urging evacuation prior to the military actions, to minimize harm to innocent individuals.
[78][79] Some Palestinian sources have said that Abu Safiya is being held in Sde Teiman, a detention camp which reportedly holds detainees in harsh conditions.
[80] Palestinian health minister Mai al-Kaila called for a probe into Israeli actions at Kamal Adwan.
"[84] In response, Israel said that it does not attack civilians[79] and that it facilitated the evacuation of patients and staff to the Indonesian Hospital, providing generators, fuel, and medical equipment.
[85] Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that "Israel did not substantiate many of these claims, which are often vague and broad.
[86][87] The WHO also noted that the Indonesian Hospital "lacks the necessary equipment and supplies" for the patients who had been moved there, as well as condemning the reports of people being "stripped and forced to walk towards southern Gaza.
Amnesty International called for his release and expressed concern for his wellbeing due to a "great risk of torture and ill-treatment".
[78][80] UN Special Rapporteurs Francesca Albanese and Tlaleng Mofokeng condemned the attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital and Abu Safiya's detainment as "part of a pattern by Israel to continuously bombard, destroy and fully annihilate the realisation of the right to health in Gaza.”[93][6]