Israel despatched troops into Nasser Medical Complex on Thursday in what it stated was a seek for Hamas fighters and the our bodies of hostages, an incursion that raised alarm over the destiny of a whole bunch of sufferers and medical staff and the numerous displaced Palestinians who had sought shelter there from the warfare.
The raid got here two days after Israel’s army ordered displaced individuals to evacuate the hospital, the biggest in southern Gaza and one of many final ones functioning within the enclave, and after warnings by well being officers {that a} army operation there may very well be catastrophic for civilians.
Ashraf al-Qudra, the Gazan well being ministry’s spokesman, stated that the Israeli army had demolished the southern wall of the advanced and begun storming it, overrunning the ambulance middle and an space the place displaced individuals had been residing in tents.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders, which has workers members on the hospital, stated that shelling on Thursday morning had left “an undetermined number of people killed and injured” and known as on Israel to halt the operation. Videos posted to social media on Thursday and verified by The New York Times present scenes of confusion, with individuals carrying backpacks and rolled-up bedding lined up contained in the hospital grounds as a voice on a loudspeaker, apparently that of an Israeli soldier, tells them to depart.
The Israeli army stated that particular forces troopers had been “conducting a precise and limited operation inside Nasser” towards Hamas, which it accused of hiding within the hospital amongst wounded civilians. Israel, which has stated that Hamas makes use of hospitals throughout Gaza as cowl for army operations, stated it had intelligence, together with from launched hostages, that Hamas had held captives on the hospital and that their our bodies could be there.
Neither Israel’s claims nor these of the Gazan authorities may very well be independently verified.
Tents of
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Tents of
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On Thursday, Israel stated that it had detained “a number of suspects” at Nasser, within the metropolis of Khan Younis, and Dr. al-Qudra stated that Israeli forces had bulldozed graves on the hospital grounds. In previous raids on Gaza hospitals throughout the warfare, the Israeli army has arrested medical workers members and dug up graves, saying it was looking for hostages’ our bodies.
Hamas and hospital directors have denied that Hamas makes use of medical services for army operations. International legislation consultants have stated Israel is obligated to guard hospitals and different civilian infrastructure with solely slender exceptions, comparable to if they’re clearly getting used for army functions.
The Israeli army has confronted rising worldwide condemnation for its actions towards Gazan hospitals, mosques and colleges, and on Thursday it stated that it aimed to make sure that Nasser may proceed treating sufferers regardless of the army operation. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli army’s chief spokesman, stated that on the hospital’s request, the army had organized to permit worldwide support teams to ship medical provides and tools to the hospital in latest days, together with oxygen tanks and gas.
The United Nations has stated that the Israeli army allowed provides to achieve Nasser on Feb. 9 after seven earlier makes an attempt to carry support there failed, as anesthesia, gas, meals and medical provides ran dangerously low. U.N. officers have stated that the Israeli army has impeded deliveries of support throughout Gaza, an allegation Israel has denied.
Nasser has grow to be a spotlight of Israel’s floor offensive towards Hamas in southern Gaza, and in latest days medical doctors there described bombings and gunfire killing individuals contained in the advanced as Israeli forces edged towards its gates. After the Israeli army ordered displaced individuals sheltering there to evacuate, a whole bunch of Palestinians fled the hospital on Wednesday, though it was unclear the place they might go in a territory pounded by airstrikes and riddled with combating.
Admiral Hagari stated the Israeli army had opened a “humanitarian corridor” to permit civilians to depart the advanced safely. But some Palestinians who left Nasser on Thursday risked drone hearth outdoors, in response to Mohammad Salama, a journalist who fled the hospital.
On Tuesday, medical doctors and well being officers stated that individuals who had tried to flee the hospital got here beneath hearth, and that some had been killed.
Asked for remark, the Israeli army on Thursday didn’t supply particular responses to these allegations.
Patrick Kingsley contributed reporting from Jerusalem, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad from Haifa, Israel, Ameera Harouda from Doha, Qatar, and Adam Sella from Tel Aviv.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/15/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news
