Mass graves dug at overwhelmed Al Nasser Hospital as tanks make way through Khan Younis

Mass graves were dug around Gaza’s Al Nasser Hospital yesterday as Israeli tanks moved towards it through the southern city of Khan Younis.

Health workers told The National they were overwhelmed by patients and by burying the dead. “The hospital is full of martyrs, and they have started burying them in mass graves within the grounds,” Khan Younis resident Ahmed El Madhoun said.

Health authorities say Al Nasser is one of the last operational medical centres in Gaza.

“We are trapped inside the hospital and tanks are nearby. There are dozens of martyrs and injured in the streets. Ambulances cannot reach them,” Mr El Madhoun said.

During the past 24 hours, at least 50 people have died in Khan Younis and more than 100 were injured by Israeli bombardment, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Doctors refuse to leave Al Nasser despite the danger from Israeli fire. Israeli officials have said the building is used as a base by Hamas fighters, an accusation the staff deny.

“I will not leave the hospital and my patients,” Mannar Fayad, an anaesthesia and resuscitation specialist, told The National yesterday.

She said she was panicking as Israeli tanks moved towards the hospital.

“I’m thinking of our fate if the

Israeli forces invade the hospital – are they going to arrest us, or kill us …?” she asked

Ahmed Al Moghrabi, head of the burns and plastic surgery department at Al Nasser, said pressure on health workers was increasing.

“Last night was particularly difficult due to heavy Israeli air strikes in the southern part of the hospital. Many people started to flee,” he said. “We are facing a significant challenge with the limited number of medical staff who have chosen to stay.”

Yesterday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the Israelis were “besieging the ambulance centre [in Khan Younis] and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area”. Red Crescent staff in Je

rusalem said they were able to briefly establish contact with their Khan Younis team yesterday but remain “extremely concerned” as bombing and tanks move closer.

“Cellphone, landlines and Wi-Fi are all down. This is the 11th day of a complete blackout. The only means of communication is by VHF radio, but this is not stable,” Red Crescent spokeswoman Nebal Farsakh told The National.

She said staff and displaced people seeking refuge in the complex, about 7,000 to 8,000, risked being shot by the Israelis if they left.

“No one can move in or out, this includes ambulance teams. They are constantly getting calls from the wounded in Khan Younis, but the ambulances are trapped.

“They can hear constant bombardment close to area, but they can’t verify how far away it is from the hospital because they can’t even stand outside in front of the building.”

Reports suggested at least 100 patients were being treated inside the hospital.

Ashraf Al Qudra, spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry, also said that Israeli forces were preventing the movement of ambulances to evacuate those killed and wounded in the west of the city.

Doaa Al Baz, a journalist, decided to stay at the hospital as she had no where else to go.

“Last night was so horrible. The shelling didn’t stop, and I just feel that I will leave my journalism duties and want to escape to safety,” she told The National.

Most of the journalists who stayed in the hospital have fled the area as the situation is getting increasingly dangerous, she said.

“Those that have stayed are now surrounded and we can’t leave.”