It’s “ethnic cleansing”: Top Israeli news outlet condemns hospital demolitions by IDF
A fire burns as seen through a window from Kamal Adwan Hospital. (Reuters: Stringer )
In a pointed editorial, top Israeli newspaper Haaretz has accused Israel of engaging in a campaign of deliberate “ethnic cleansing” in northern Gaza.
The piece criticized the Israeli army for actions it claims are aimed at depopulating the region and preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes.
The destruction of hospitals, including the prominent Kamal Adwan Hospital, was singled out as a particularly egregious act.
The editorial stressed that hospitals, protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention, must not be targeted even during wartime. The forced evacuation of patients and healthcare workers, many in undergarments, was condemned as a violation of international law.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, once serving over 400,000 residents, has been rendered inoperative. On Friday, Israeli forces reportedly surrounded the hospital, evacuating staff and patients before parts of the facility were set on fire.
The editorial dismissed the Israeli military’s justifications, such as claims of small arms found in hospitals, as inadequate to rationalize the destruction. It criticized the broader military campaign in northern Gaza as an unlawful effort to complete the region’s depopulation.
Haaretz’s criticism comes amid ongoing conflict, where over 45,500 Gazans have reportedly been killed since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
The aftermath has prompted international legal scrutiny, with the International Criminal Court issuing warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Israel facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
