A/HRC/12/48 page 147 those suffering from head and spinal injuries. Many patients are elderly. It can accommodate over 50 patients. 632. The hospital consists of three buildings. From south to north these are the administrative building (three floors), the hospital buildings (rooms of patients and surgeries, seven floors) and the building for the elderly (reception and rehabilitation, three floors). 1. The facts 633. The hospital was the object of a significant attack on 16 April 2008. Tanks fired in and around the hospital area, damaging a large number of patient rooms and causing significant destruction of the building for rehabilitative care for the elderly. Hospital staff indicate there was no armed presence inside the hospital at that time but cannot say whether there may have been a presence outside. 634. During the military operations, the hospital was attacked again. Despite media reports that a warning had been given, hospital staff deny that any specific warning was received. Leaflets had been dropped in the area with general indications that support of Hamas would be punished. The hospital had also received a number of telephone warnings with recorded messages but with no specific indication that the hospital itself would be the object of an attack, much less with an indication of when that would occur. One doctor indicated that the hospital had received around four such messages each day since 27 December 2008. 635. On 5 January, the hospital was attacked with intensive artillery fire, including white phosphorous shells. Senior doctors indicate that generic recorded telephone warnings were actually received during the shelling. The latest warning the hospital received on 5 January was at 4.30 p.m. Following this, at around 12.30-1 a.m. on 6 January, white phosphorous shells landed in the area surrounding the administrative building and on its roof. 636. The white phosphorous caused damage to the administrative building only, destroying the roof. 637. All three witnesses of the senior medical staff confirm absolutely that there was no presence of any armed resistance inside the hospital. They are not able to confirm or deny the presence of such elements outside of the hospital. 638. The hospital was attacked again with artillery fire on 16 January 2009 at 2 a.m. No specific warning was given. Again a general recorded message had been received saying that people located in the border areas should leave and threatening punitive measures to those who stayed. Again doctors confirm there was no armed presence inside the hospital but cannot say what was occurring outside it. 639. The attack damaged the building for elderly patients on the ground and third floors as well as the roof. It damaged the third and fourth floors of the central hospital building. 640. Doctors estimate that the tanks were as close as 70 metres from the hospital. 641. The damage to the hospital (as a result of the two attacks) is estimated at US$ 550,000.