A number of Palestinian patients at the Darwish Nazzal Hospital in Qalqilya, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, were injured yesterday and suffered severe suffocation, especially in the children’s ward, after Israeli occupation forces raided the hospital’s courtyards, firing live ammunition, gas bombs and smoke at the hospital.

Minister of Health Jawad Awwad issued a statement condemning the attack, describing it as “barbaric act and despicable crime” which violates all international norms and human rights conventions.

He added that the occupation forces’ repeated raids and attacks on hospitals indicate their systematic policy against hospitals and the entire Palestinian health sector, which is a violation of international laws and poses a threat to the lives of Palestinian patients.

He stressed the need for immediate and urgent intervention by all international health organisations operating in Palestine in order to rein in the occupation, noting that he will be sending urgent letters to them in this regard.

Read: Israeli hospital raid kills sick Palestinian