Palestinian Territories — Israel sent troops into a hospital in war-torn Gaza on Thursday as medics warned the key medical facility was operating in “near impossible” conditions.
The raid came after days of intense fighting between troops and Hamas around the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis — one of the largest medical sites in southern Gaza, and one of the few hospitals that are still operational in the territory.
Israel, which has accused Hamas militants of using hospitals for military purposes, said it was carrying out a “precise and limited operation” at the facility with “no obligation” for patients or staff to evacuate.
Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said there was “credible intelligence from a number of sources, including from released hostages, indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and that there may be bodies of our hostages” at the hospital.
The health ministry in Gaza reported that thousands of people who had sought refuge at the hospital, including patients, have been made to leave in recent days.
It has called the situation at Nasser “catastrophic”, with staff unable to move bodies to the morgue because of the risks involved.
Nurse Mohammed al-Astal told AFP this week that the facility had been “besieged” for a month and was facing deadly sniper fire, sewage in the emergency room and a lack of drinking water.
Footage on social media, which AFP could not independently verify, shows rescuers trying to move patients from the hospital’s orthopaedic ward, after it was reportedly struck, to safer rooms.
Using mobile flashlights, rescuers were seen dragging a patient on a bed, while some others carried another sick person in a blanket amid fallen debris.
Doctors Without Borders has said its staff there are working in “near impossible conditions”.
Gaza pounded
The World Health Organization has described Nasser hospital as a critical facility “for all of Gaza”, where only a minority of hospitals are even partly operational.
Roughly 130 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Dozens of the estimated 250 hostages seized during the attack were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long truce in November. Israel says 29 of those still in Gaza are presumed dead.
At least 28,663 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s assault on the Palestinian territory, according to the health ministry.
Israel launched more deadly strikes on southern Gaza on Thursday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted it would push ahead with a “powerful” operation in the overcrowded city of Rafah for “complete victory”.
‘No safe place’ –
Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven into Rafah, seeking shelter in a sprawling makeshift encampment near the Egyptian border.
“We were displaced from Gaza City to the south,” said Ahlam Abu Assi. “(Then) they told us to go to Rafah, so we went to Rafah.
“We can’t keep going and coming,” she added. “There is no safe place for us.”
Australia, Canada and New Zealand were the latest to warn Israel not to launch a ground offensive in the city, issuing a joint statement saying it would be “devastating” for 1.5 million trapped civilians.
“There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go,” they said.
In Cairo, efforts to secure a ceasefire entered a third day, with negotiators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt trying to broker a deal to suspend the fighting and see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
CIA director William Burns joined the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service for talks with mediators on Tuesday, while a Hamas delegation was in Cairo Wednesday.
But there was no sign of immediate progress.
‘Drop delusional demands’
Netanyahu’s office said it did not receive “any new proposal” from Hamas about releasing hostages, and Israeli media reported that the country’s delegation would not return to negotiations until Hamas softens its stance.
While he did not comment directly on the reports, Netanyahu said: “I insist that Hamas drop their delusional demands and, when they drop these demands, we can move forward.”
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who heads the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, has urged Hamas to “rapidly” agree to a truce and stave off further tragedy.
With regional tensions high, the Israeli army said rocket fire from Lebanon Wednesday killed an Israeli soldier, while Lebanese sources said Israeli strikes had killed 15 people, 10 of them civilians.
The Israeli military said it had killed Hezbollah commander Ali al-Debs, his deputy and another fighter.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement has traded near-daily fire with Israeli troops, with tens of thousands displaced on both sides.
But the highest single-day civilian death toll in Lebanon since October raised fears of a broader conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.