Israeli soldiers stormed the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, this Thursday. and they forced part of the people who were still inside to leave it, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas.
“The Israeli occupation attacks the Naser Medical Complex and turns it into a military barracks after demolishing its southern wall,” reported Health spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra, who added that The Army also attacked the ambulance department and IDP tents in the medical compound.
“At dawn today (Thursday, February 15) and under bombardment,” The soldiers imposed “by force” the evacuation of part of the displaced and relatives of the medical personnel who remained in the center, he indicated.
They also ordered the medical teams to transfer all the patients, “including those in intensive care and pediatrics”, to move to a specific hospital building, an almost impossible task for six patients who require assisted breathing.
According to medical sources contacted by Efe, Israeli soldiers have occupied the second floor of the medical complex and have asked all people, including medical teams, to leave the upper floors and descend to the lower floors.
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The same source noted via telephone that a large number of Army dogs had been released in different areas of the complex.
Hours earlier, in the middle of the siege of the center, a Palestinian was killed and several were injured in an Israeli attack on the hospital.
For more than 25 days, The health authorities denounce the siege of the Israeli forces around the Naser, and last Tuesday the Army ordered the evacuation of 10,000 Gazans who were taking refuge in the medical facility.
Smoke billows over Khan Yunis following Israeli bombings on the southern Gaza Strip.
According to Health, Until today, some 1,500 displaced people were still in the hospital, where the situation is “catastrophic,” in addition to about 190 members of health personnel and about 300 of their relatives.
Among the patients admitted, “there are 273 patients who cannot move”, 18 of whom are in intensive care and 35 on dialysis, which made their evacuation difficult due to the Israeli order.
Likewise, wastewater is flooding the emergency room and medical and non-medical waste is accumulating in the apartments and patios of the complex, according to Health.
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Those gathered inside the facility were also left without drinking water or food, and there were almost no drugs or medical supplies “for intensive care, operations or emergencies.”
The Naser Hospital is the largest medical center in southern Gaza, where Israeli troops have been carrying out a ground offensive since early December. which also involved the siege of the city's other hospital, Al Amal, where more than 8,000 people were already evacuated last week. It is also the largest medical center still operational in the entire Palestinian enclave.
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Injured Palestinians arrive at the Nasser hospital in the southern Gaza Strip seeking help.
The Israeli Army said this Thursday it had “credible information” from the intelligence services that Hamas keeps some of the Israeli hostages hidden in that medical center.
“We have credible information from various sources, including released hostages, indicating that “Hamas is holding hostages in the Naser hospital in Khan Yunis and that there may be bodies of our hostages on the hospital premises,” assures a military statement.
The military note adds that the Army is also committed to recovering the bodies of hostages held by Hamas fighters, many of whom perished in Israeli bombings.
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There is intelligence information that would confirm that there are hostages in the Nasser Hospital in Gaza.
Listen to the IDF spokesperson 👇 pic.twitter.com/EcBKMRLLXg— SissiEmperatriz 🇮🇱 (@GabyLob) February 15, 2024
About 30 of the approximately 130 Israeli hostages who are still unknown after their capture on October 7 by Hamas are believed to have died. that that day he attacked Israel by surprise and killed 1,200 people. which was the trigger for the outbreak of war in Gaza.
The Israeli Army insisted that it has demonstrated that other Gaza hospitals such as Al Shifa, Al Rantisi or Al Amal, raided and dismantled by Israel, “have been systematically used by Hamas as centers of terror.”
“More than 85 percent of Gaza's main medical facilities have been used by Hamas for terrorist operations,” assures the Army, which has been highly criticized by the international community for its attacks against services, facilities and civil infrastructure in Gaza, which has led the population to a humanitarian catastrophe, as reported by numerous NGOs.
(Keep reading: Israel reveals video of what would be the head of Hamas fleeing through a tunnel in Gaza)
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Nasser Hospital, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that on Tuesday an Israeli military excavator “destroyed the north door of the hospital compound (the Naser hospital) and ordered the displaced to leave through it.”
According to MSF, troops allowed medical staff and patients to remain in the hospital, “with a limit of one caregiver per patient,” while NGO staff “remain in the building and continue to treat patients in almost impossible conditions.” .
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“After weeks of intense fighting near Naser Hospital, medical staff, patients and displaced people found themselves trapped in the facility with very little access to basic supplies,” says MSF.
According to the NGO, “in recent days at least five people have died and another ten were injured by direct shots at the hospital.”
“People were forced into an impossible situation: remain in the hospital against Army orders and become potential targets or leave the facility into an apocalyptic landscape,” MSF notes of the displaced, who have “nowhere to go.” go”.
EFE
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