“Kamal Adwan Hospital is viewed as the backbone of lifesaving medical services in the north of the Strip as it serves more than two-thirds of northern Gaza’s population,” Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reports from Deir el Balah, Gaza.

“We saw that Dr Abu Safia was rounded up from there and used as a human shield. He was unarmed when arrested.

“This doctor — since the onset of this genocide in the Gaza Strip — has put his life on the line to guarantee the continuation of essential medical care for critically wounded people and patients,” he said.

Now with the shuttering of Kamal Adwan Hospital, medical services in the northern part of Gaza have been left in shambles, while Abu Safia’s detention has triggered wide-scale international condemnation.

“What we see on the ground is a systematic escalation aimed at eradicating medical services from the north of the Strip, which could be a sign of intention to empty northern Gaza of its population.

“Meanwhile, many in Gaza are living in flimsy tents or destroyed buildings that have no protection against wind or even cold weather and freezing temperatures. The ongoing displacement and weather conditions exacerbate the already dire humanitarian and medical situation for displaced families,” he said.