Israeli forces withdrew on Saturday, a day after attacking a hospital complex in northern Gaza, and the Palestinian territory’s health ministry said soldiers detained dozens of male health workers and some patients.

Later on Saturday, Palestinian official news agency WAFA said that at least 30 people were killed in Israeli attacks on several houses in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza. There was no official statement from the Ministry of Health regarding the death toll.

The Israeli army said that it “carried out a precision attack using precision ammunition against Hamas terrorists in a structure in the Beit Lahiya area of ​​the Gaza Strip. Many terrorists were shot in the attack.”

He added that the high death toll mentioned in the media report did not match the type of munitions used in the precision attack.

On Friday, Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities attempting to operate in the area, health officials said.

Footage distributed by the health ministry, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed damage to several buildings after Israeli forces withdrew.

At least 44 of the facility’s 70-person hospital team were detained by the military, medics said. It was later stated that the army released 14 people, including the hospital director.

An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment on the hospital report. On Friday, the Israeli army said it carried out an operation based on intelligence “regarding the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure” in the hospital area.

At least two children died in the intensive care unit after Israel opened fire on generators and an oxygen station at the facility on Friday, medics said.

Healthcare workers refused Israeli army orders to evacuate the hospital or leave their patients unattended. He said that at least 600 people, including medics, patients and their attendants, were in the hospital before the army raid.

“The safety and lives of patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital, left without medical staff and much-needed medicines, are now at risk,” said Marwan Al-Hams from the health ministry.

The Gaza ministry added that Israel’s attacks on the towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza have killed nearly 800 people during the three-week offensive so far.

Israel says its forces have returned to northern Gaza to root out Hamas fighters who have regrouped there. The Israeli army said on Friday that three of its soldiers were killed in clashes in the northern Gaza Strip.

‘EXTREMELY SERIOUS’

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described the situation in northern Gaza as “extremely dire” and said safe passage should be provided to those who want to evacuate.

“Ongoing evacuation orders and continued restrictions on the arrival of essential supplies leave the remaining civilian population in northern Gaza in dire conditions,” the ICRC said in a statement on Saturday. he said.

“Hospitals are being told to evacuate, leaving a potential gap in medical services for many remaining civilians…” the statement said.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said Israel’s attacks on northern Gaza and attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital were violations of international humanitarian law and could not have been carried out without the “protection of Western countries”.

Israel accuses Hamas of regularly exploiting civilian populations and property, including hospitals and mosques, for military purposes. Hamas denies the accusation.

The Israeli army said on Saturday it was expanding the Al Mawasi area designated for humanitarian purposes in the southern Gaza Strip, where the army has in the past told Palestinians to go when they have to evacuate their homes.

The statement from the Israeli security force also stated that on Saturday, Israeli forces killed a Hamas member during a raid on the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The man was said to be planning an imminent attack.

Hamas said the man, identified as Islam Jamil Awda, died “while fighting with occupation forces who surrounded him for hours in a house in Tulkarm camp.”

Violence has increased in the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israeli war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians, including armed warriors, stone-throwing youths and nearby civilians, were killed in clashes with Israeli forces.

Dozens of Israelis were also killed in street attacks by Palestinians last year.

Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, according to Israeli records.

The death toll in Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza is approaching 43,000 and the densely populated area is in ruins.