Attack on hospital: Israel’s Ramadan gift to Palestinians

As the Muslim world was celebrating the advent of Ramadan on Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a massive campaign of incursions into the occupied West Bank and arrested 28 Palestinians. (Reuters/File)

• Palestinian Health Minister called on human rights institutions and the International Committee of the Red Cross to act urgently against Israel’s increasing attacks
• Israeli forces intensively lobbed tear gas shells toward a hospital in Ramallah, affecting dozens of patients, including newborns in incubators

RAMALLAH: As the Muslim world was celebrating the advent of Ramadan on Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a massive campaign of incursions into the occupied West Bank and arrested 28 Palestinians.
Earlier in the day, Israeli forces intensively lobbed tear gas shells toward a hospital in Ramallah, affecting dozens of patients, including newborns in incubators, and medical personnel. Several patients complained of acute chest pain.
Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila called on human rights institutions and the International Committee of the Red Cross to act urgently against Israel’s increasing attacks on health centers, patients and ambulance personnel.
The ministry said in a statement: “Since the beginning of this year, dozens of cases of direct deliberate assault on treatment centers in various governorates have been documented.”
Ambulances were targeted and crews were prevented from reaching and treating the wounded, which led to the injury of dozens of patients inside treatment centers and during their transfers between cities and medical centers, it added.
The mother of a sick child said: “We did not sleep all night because of the heavy toxic gas fired by the occupation forces toward the hospital. My son is still suffering from its effects. Its smell is still lingering in the patients’ wards, obstructing the work of the nurses.”
One of the patients said: “The smell of gas woke me up and I felt shortness of breath and pain in my chest.”
Eyewitnesses reported that the most affected areas were the cardiac surgery, resuscitation and children’s departments.
Meanwhile, 2,000 prisoners will go on a hunger strike on Thursday, the first day of the fasting month, in protest against the repressive measures announced by Israel at the recommendation of its Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Prison authorities have threatened to take punitive measures against prisoners who intend to start a general strike coinciding with Ramadan.
“The orders of the prison administration will discipline the prisoners on hunger strike. The prison administration will not tolerate disturbances and disciplinary violations and will work professionally and resolutely against any threat,” a statement said.
Since Feb. 14, prisoners have been protesting after the prison administration announced the implementation of harsh measures — including rationing water, reducing shower times, keeping bathrooms locked and providing stale bread for prisoners to eat — at the behest of Ben-Gvir.
In some prisons, the administration doubled crackdowns using stun grenades and sniffer dogs.
Prisoners have carried out over 26 coordinated strikes since 1970, through which they succeeded in changing their conditions in detention.
As of the end of January, the number of prisoners in the occupation’s prisons reached 4,780, including 29 female prisoners and 160 children.
The Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein Al-Sheikh called on the Israeli government to stop its harassment of and escalatory measures against prisoners amid brutal living conditions that defy international conventions.
In a tweet, Al-Sheikh called on international bodies to intervene immediately.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, said the systematic Israeli escalation “against our heroic prisoners, led by the fascist extremist Ben-Gvir, will have serious repercussions.”
Rudeineh added that the international community, including the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council, “must immediately intervene and stop these crimes against our prisoners before it’s too late.”
He said President Mahmoud Abbas was in constant contact with all relevant international parties to stop the Israeli attacks against Palestinian prisoners and people.
The spokesman added that the “extremist Israeli government is trying, through this deliberate escalation, to thwart all international efforts to reduce tension.”
A meeting was held late on Wednesday between representatives of the prisoners and the prison administration in a final attempt to reach an agreement in order to avoid an open-ended hunger strike from the first day of Ramadan. At the time of publication, it is still unclear whether an accord was reached.