Israel raids main hospital in southern Gaza: says it is looking for hostage bodies

Israeli forces On Thursday they attacked the Nasser hospital the main one in southern Gaza after a long confrontation, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health. The Israeli military said it had “credible information” from intelligence that Hamas was 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.

He Nasser Hospital by Khan Yunis It had been practically isolated for weeks due to the fighting. Thousands of Palestinians displaced on Wednesday They had taken refuge in the compound They began to leave after Israel opened a safe route for evacuation.

During the night, Israeli shots fired at the compound They killed one patient and injured six others, according to doctors.

Separately, Israeli airstrikes a day earlier killed at least 13 people in southern Lebanon, including 10 civilians – mostly women and minors – and three fighters from the Lebanese rebel group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas. The raid came hours after a rocket fired from Lebanon killed an Israeli soldier in the bloodiest day of cross-border clashes since the war in Gaza began on October 7, underscoring the risk of the conflict spreading.

Negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza they seem stagnant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that his offensive will continue until Hamas is destroyed and the dozens of hostages captured in the raid are freed.

Panic scenes in the hospital

Nasser Hospital was the last theater of the operations that took place Gaza’s healthcare system is devastated, which tries to care for the dozens injured in the daily bombings. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to protect its fighters.

Videos of the moments after the attack were shown doctors trying to carry patients on a stretcher through a smoky or dusty corridor. A doctor used a cell phone flashlight to illuminate a dark room where a wounded man screamed in pain while the echo of shots could be heard outside. The associated press It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the videoswhich matched their information.

Dr. Khaled Alserr, one of the surgeons remaining at Nasser Hospital, told the AP that the seven patients arrived early Thursday They were already being treated for previous injuries. The day before, a doctor was slightly injured when a drone opened fire on the centre’s upper floors, he added.

“The situation is getting worse by the hour and minute by the minute” he has declared.

The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that it had opened a safe corridor for displaced people to leave the compound, but it would allow doctors and patients to stay inside. Videos circulating online showed dozens of people leaving the building on foot with their belongings on their backs.

The army ordered the evacuation of the hospital and its surroundings last month. But like other times, the doctors indicated it their patients could not leave or be transferred safely and thousands of people displaced by fighting elsewhere in the enclave remained in the enclave. The Palestinians say so There are no longer safe places in the Strip while Israel continues to launch attacks everywhere.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said last week that Israeli snipers were stationed in nearby buildings. They prevented entry or exit from the center. Before Thursday’s attack, 10 people had been killed inside the compound last week, including three on Tuesday.

““People were forced into an impossible situation.”said Lisa Macheiner of the NGO Doctors Without Borders, which has staff at the hospital.

“Remain in Nasser Hospital against the orders of the Israeli army and become a possible target or leave the compound 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 rebels breached Israeli defenses on October 7 and stormed several communities, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages. More than 100 Palestinians were freed during the week-long ceasefire in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

In Gaza Approximately 130 hostages remain about a quarter of whom are believed to have died. Netanyahu has come under intense pressure from prisoners’ families and the public to reach a deal that would secure their release, but his partners in the far-right coalition could topple the government if they deem it too soft on Hamas.

Israel responded to the rebel attack by launching one of the deadliest and most destructive air and ground offensives in recent history. Some 28,663 Palestinians 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 continued to attack Israeli forces in all areas of Gaza and It says it will not hand over any more hostages until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws from the territory. The group is also calling for the release of large numbers of Palestinians, including high-ranking commanders.

Netanyahu has rejected these calls as “delusional” and says Israel will soon expand its offensive to the enclave’s northernmost city, Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where more than half of Gaza’s population has found refuge.