Israeli forces stormed the main hospital in southern Gaza on Thursday, just hours after killing one patient and wounding six others inside the complex.
The Israeli army said it was a limited operation to search for the remains of hostages captured by Hamas, but has not yet revealed exactly whose remains they are looking for. The IDF has also not disclosed how many soldiers are currently working to find the remains.
The raid came a day after the army attempted to evacuate thousands of displaced people who had sought refuge at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The southern city has been the main target of Israel's offensive against Hamas in recent weeks.
While the military said it had “credible information” that Hamas was holding hostages at the hospital, the largest in southern Gaza, and that the hostages' remains may still be inside, it did not release any evidence.
Al Jazeera reported that the IDF gave people in Nasser until 7 a.m. local time to leave the hospital and that “heavy tank and machine gun fire” could be heard nearby starting this morning.
The outlet reported that the hospital's maternity ward, orthopedics department and emergency room were attacked by IDF soldiers and that medical staff were rounded up and “tied with their hands behind their backs.”
The Israeli army said it was a limited operation to search for the remains of hostages kidnapped by Hamas (Nasser Hospital file photo).
Palestinian patients rest as they arrive in Rafah after being evacuated from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis due to the Israeli ground operation
Street vendors are seen selling what little food and basic necessities they have left on the streets as Palestinians struggle with the rising cost of living due to Israeli attacks in Gaza City
Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis has been the latest focus of operations that have crippled Gaza's health sector as it struggles to treat scores of patients injured in daily bombardments.
A video taken by a doctor working at the hospital of the aftermath of last night's strike shows paramedics rushing to push patients on stretchers through a corridor filled with smoke or dust.
A medic is shown using a cellphone flashlight to illuminate a darkened room where a wounded man screamed in pain as gunfire rang out outside. The Associated Press could not authenticate the videos, but they were consistent with its reporting.
Dr. Khaled Alserr, one of the remaining surgeons at Nasser Hospital, told the AP that the seven patients hit early Thursday were already being treated for previous wounds. On Wednesday, a doctor was slightly injured when a drone opened fire on the upper floors of the hospital, he said.
“The situation is escalating every hour and every minute,” he said.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had opened a safe corridor for displaced people to leave the hospital but would allow doctors and patients to remain there.
Videos and images shared online showed dozens of people leaving the facility on foot, carrying their belongings on their shoulders. One picture showed a family with many elderly members sitting on a cart pulled by a horse.
Last month, the military ordered the evacuation of Nasser Hospital and surrounding areas. But as at other health facilities, medics said patients could not safely leave the hospital or be relocated and that thousands of people displaced by fighting elsewhere remained there.
Palestinians say there is no safe place in the besieged area as Israel continues to carry out attacks in all parts of the area.
Smoke rises during an Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian structures to protect its fighters
Separately, at least 13 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday
“People were forced into an impossible situation,” said Lisa Macheiner from the aid organization Doctors Without Borders, which has staff at the hospital.
“Stay in Nasser Hospital against Israeli military orders and become a potential target, or leave the site in an apocalyptic landscape where bombings and evacuation orders are part of daily life.”
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian structures to protect its fighters.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said Israel launched a “massive raid” with heavy gunfire that injured many of the displaced people who had taken refuge there.
He said the military ordered medics to move all patients to an older building that was not adequately equipped to treat them.
“Many cannot be evacuated, such as people with lower limb amputations, severe burns or the elderly,” he said in an interview with the Al Jazeera network.
Separately, Israeli air strikes on Wednesday killed at least 13 people in southern Lebanon, including 10 civilians – mostly women and children – and just three fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The attacks came just hours after an Israeli soldier was killed in a rocket attack from Lebanon. This was the deadliest daily exchange of fire on the border since the Gaza war began on October 7.
Palestinians fleeing the Israeli offensive against Khan Younis arrive in Rafah in the Gaza Strip
The war began when Hamas militants broke through Israel's formidable defenses on October 7 and rampaged through several communities, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, there have been exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah along the border almost daily. Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for Wednesday's rocket attack.
Negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza appear to have stalled, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until Hamas is destroyed and scores of hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack that started the war are returned triggered, were taken.
The war began when Hamas militants broke through Israel's formidable defenses on Black Saturday and rampaged through several communities, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
More than 100 of the prisoners were released last year during a ceasefire in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners, but about 130 prisoners remain in Gaza, a quarter of whom are believed to be dead.
Netanyahu is under intense pressure from the hostages' families and the general public to strike a deal to secure their freedom. But his far-right coalition partners could topple his government if he is perceived to be too soft on Hamas.
Israel responded to the attack with one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in modern history.
Over 28,000 Palestinians have been killed, 80% of the population have fled their homes and a quarter are starving amid a worsening humanitarian disaster.
Over 28,000 Palestinians have been killed, 80% of the population have fled their homes and a quarter are starving amid a worsening humanitarian disaster
Large areas of northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive, were completely destroyed
A view shows rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip coast towards Israel during the Israeli military operation in Khan Younis
Large areas of northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive, were completely destroyed.
Hamas has continued to attack Israeli forces in all parts of the Gaza Strip and said it would not release all remaining prisoners until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws. Hamas is also demanding the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including high-ranking militants.
Netanyahu has rejected these demands, calling them “delusional.” He said Israel would soon expand its offensive to Gaza's southernmost city, Rafah, on the Egyptian border.
More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have sought refuge in Rafah after fleeing fighting elsewhere in the coastal enclave.
At least 28,576 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since the war began, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Over 68,000 people were injured in the war.
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