Maldives government on Saturday, condemned the burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip by Israeli forces urging the international community to stop such war crimes against the Palestinian people.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the heinous attack on the hospital represents a grave violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
“Such attacks on vital healthcare facilities constitute a war crime and are a part of the ongoing relentless aggression against the Palestinian people,” the statement said.
The Maldives also reiterated its call on the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to take immediate and decisive action to stop Israel’s aggression in Gaza, protect the Palestinian people and hold accountable those responsible for these crimes.
“The Maldives stands in firm solidarity with the Palestinian people and reiterates that a just and lasting peaceful solution to the conflict can only be achieved through the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the statement said.
The assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital has rendered the facility "useless", further worsening Gaza's severe health crisis, the Palestinian territory's health officials said.
The WHO said 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including some on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital.
Patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed, non-functioning Indonesian Hospital, the UN health agency said, adding it was "deeply concerned for their safety".
Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry reported that Israeli forces detained Kamal Adwan Hospital's director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, along with several medical staff members.
In the days leading up to the raid, Abu Safiyeh had repeatedly warned about the hospital's precarious situation, accusing Israeli forces of targeting the facility.
On Monday, he issued a statement accusing Israel of targeting the hospital "with the intent to kill and forcibly displaced the people inside".
On Thursday, Abu Safiyeh said five staff members of the hospital had been killed in an Israeli strike near the facility.
Gaza's health ministry had earlier quoted Abu Safiyeh reporting that the military had "set on fire all surgery departments of the hospital".
Since October 6, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in northern Gaza, saying its goal is to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.