by Israeli forces have ordered Palestinians sheltering in one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza to evacuate the complex, raising fears that troops will try to storm a facility packed with thousands of people, some of whom have received shots when they tried to flee. according to the doctors there.
The Israeli military on Wednesday accused Hamas of carrying out military activities within the grounds of the hospital, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, and alleged that the complex “was used to hold hostages.”
Israel’s claims could not be independently verified, but they pointed to increasing attention at the hospital as Israeli forces try to expel Hamas fighters from the southern city. Previous Israeli warnings to evacuate hospitals, including Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest, have often preceded military raids on the facilities.
“We demand the immediate cessation of all military activity in the hospital area and the immediate departure of military agents from the hospital,” the Israeli army said. saying in a sentence. He called on civilians sheltered in the hospital to leave for “safer spaces” in southern and central Gaza. The statement did not ask patients or medical staff to leave the hospital.
Gazans have said Israeli forces regularly fire on areas from which they have ordered people to flee, leaving nowhere safe in the enclave. Adding to the terror of those inside the hospital, Israeli forces shot at people trying to leave the complex, and some were killed or wounded, according to two doctors interviewed Tuesday.
“The situation is very dangerous,” said Khaled Al-Serr, general surgeon at the hospital. He said the Israeli military had indicated just a day earlier that the hospital, which has been surrounded by Israeli ground forces for weeks, was safe.
Khan Younis has been the focus of the Israeli invasion of southern Gaza, with airstrikes killing hundreds of civilians and soldiers shooting at people in the streets, according to reports from the Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian media. . Many Gazans fleeing Israel’s military offensive in northern and central Gaza had sought refuge in Khan Younis, only to be forced to flee again as Israeli forces advanced further into the strip.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the allegation that its forces had fired on those trying to flee.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said on Tuesday that “heavy fighting in Khan Younis, particularly near the Nasser and Al Amal hospitals,” continued to endanger the safety of medical staff.
The Israeli military says Hamas uses hospitals as cover for its operations, a claim the group and medical officials have denied. Palestinians have sought refuge in hospitals even though Israeli forces have launched regular attacks on them and their surroundings and, in some cases, raided hospital compounds.
Nahed Abu Taeema, chief of surgery at Nasser Hospital, said the explosions from the airstrikes had moved closer to the hospital and had become more intense in recent days. “But we will not leave the hospital without our patients,” he said.
Many doctors and nurses, along with their relatives taking shelter in the hospital, had begun packing their belongings and preparing to flee, Dr. Al-Serr said, even as leaving presented its own dangers.
There are about 8,000 people inside Nasser, he said, including seriously injured patients who have extremity injuries and would be difficult to transport.
The situation inside the hospital has become increasingly serious. Nearby Israeli strikes sparked fires that spread to medical equipment storage facilities and the hospital’s supply warehouse, almost completely burning them, said Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry. Sewage has flooded the emergency department, making it difficult to treat patients and threatening further spread of the disease, he said.
Aaron Boxerman, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Farnaz Fassihi contributed reports.
