Israeli forces
attacked the Nasser hospital this Thursday,
the main hospital in southern Gaza after a long confrontation, according to the enclave's Ministry of Health.
The Israeli Army said it has "credible information" from the intelligence services that Hamas is keeping 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 at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and that there may be bodies of our hostages on the hospital premises," a military statement said.
The
Nasser hospital
in Khan Yunis
had been practically isolated for weeks by the fighting
.
On Wednesday, thousands of displaced Palestinians who
had taken refuge in the compound
began leaving after Israel opened a safe route for evacuation.
Overnight, Israeli gunfire on the complex
killed one patient and wounded six others,
according to doctors.
Damage to the Nasser hospital.
Photo: AFP
Separately, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 13 people in southern Lebanon the day before, including 10 civilians — mostly women and minors — and three fighters from the Lebanese insurgent group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.
The raid came just hours after a rocket fired from Lebanon killed an Israeli soldier on the deadliest day of cross-border clashes that began after the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, underscoring the risk that the conflict expands.
Negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza
appear to have stalled
and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that his offensive will continue until Hamas is destroyed and the dozens of hostages captured during its raid are freed.
Panic scenes in the hospital
The Nasser hospital has been the latest scene of the operations that have
devastated the Gazan health system
, which is trying to care for dozens injured in the daily bombings.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian structures to protect its fighters.
An injured person is treated at the Nasser hospital amid the commotion.
Photo: Reuters
Videos from the moments after the attack showed
doctors trying to carry patients on stretchers through a hallway filled with smoke or dust
.
A doctor used a cell phone flashlight to illuminate a dark room where
an injured man was screaming in pain
while the echo of gunshots could be heard outside.
The Associated Press
could not verify the authenticity of the videos
, which matched their information.
Dr. Khaled Alserr, one of the remaining surgeons at the Nasser hospital, told the AP that the seven patients reached early Thursday
were already being treated for previous injuries.
The day before, a doctor suffered minor injuries when a drone opened fire on the highest floors of the center, he added.
“The situation is getting worse every hour and every minute,”
he said.
In this video capture, a man tries to stop the Israeli army from entering the Nasser hospital.
Photo: Reuters
The Israeli military announced Wednesday that it had opened a safe corridor for displaced people to leave the compound, but
would allow doctors and patients to stay inside
.
Videos circulating online showed dozens of people leaving the premises on foot with their belongings on their backs.
The army had ordered the evacuation of the hospital and its surroundings last month.
But as on other occasions, the doctors indicated that
their patients could not leave or be transferred safely
and thousands of people displaced by the fighting in other areas of the enclave remained in the facility.
Palestinians say
there are no safe places left in the Strip
as Israel continues to launch attacks everywhere.
The Gaza Health Ministry said last week that Israeli snipers stationed in nearby buildings
were preventing entry or exit from the center
.
Before Thursday's attack, 10 people were killed inside the complex over the past week, including three on Tuesday.
A man blocks an entrance to the hospital, in a screenshot of videos circulating on social networks.
Photo: Reuters
“
People have been thrust into an impossible situation
,” said Lisa Macheiner of the NGO Doctors Without Borders, which has staff at the hospital.
"Stay in the Nasser hospital against the orders of the Israeli army and become a possible target or leave the complex into
an apocalyptic landscape
where bombings and evacuation orders are part of the routine," he added.
Months of conflict with no end in sight
The war began when Hamas insurgents breached Israeli defenses on October 7 and stormed several communities, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage.
More than 100 were freed during a week-long ceasefire in November in a swap for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
About 130 hostages remain
in Gaza ,
around a quarter of whom are believed to have died.
Netanyahu has received intense pressure from the families of the captives and public opinion to reach an agreement that guarantees his release, but his partners in the far-right coalition could bring down the government if they consider that it is too soft on Hamas. .
Israel responded to the insurgent attack by launching one of the most lethal and destructive air and ground offensives in recent history.
Some
28,663 Palestinians have died
, around 80% of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Strip have been forced to leave their homes and the humanitarian crisis means that more than a quarter of the population has nothing to eat.
Large areas of the north of the enclave, the first objective of the offensive, were completely destroyed.
Hamas has continued to attack Israeli forces in all areas of Gaza and
says it will not hand over any more hostages until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws from the territory.
The group also demands the release of a large number of Palestinians, including high-ranking commanders.
Netanyahu has rejected those demands as "delusional" and says Israel will soon expand its offensive to the enclave's northernmost city, Rafah, on the border with Egypt. More than half of Gaza's population has taken refuge there.
With information from the Associated Press