Israeli forces storm Gaza hospital, force out patients

GAZA-JERUSALEM. –Israeli forces on Thursday stormed Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis after demolishing its southern wall, according to a statement from Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

The statement said the Israeli forces ordered medics to move all patients into an older building of the hospital which was not properly equipped for treatment.

In a press statement sent to Xinhua, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said the Israeli attacks on Nasser Hospital repeated “the horrific crimes that occurred in other hospitals in Gaza, including the Shifa Medical Complex, when it forced the displaced people to evacuate and targeted them with fire and arrested them.”

She said Nasser Hospital, which had been under siege for 25 consecutive days, hosted 300 health personnel, 450 patients and wounded, and more than 10 000 displaced people.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the army was conducting a “precise and limited” mission in Nasser Hospital to find and return the bodies of hostages, adding that the operation was based on “credible intelligence from a number of sources.”

He also emphasized there is “no obligation for patients or staff to evacuate the hospital,” as the IDF has coordinated the transfer of medical supplies and equipment and sent doctors and officers to communicate with patients and staff inside the hospital.

Health authorities in the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave said Israel had forced out dozens of staff, patients, displaced people and families of medical staff sheltering in the hospital. Some 2 000 Palestinians arrived in the southern border city of Rafah overnight while others pushed north to Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, they said.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has since devastated tiny, crowded Gaza, killing 28,663 people, also mostly civilian, according to health authorities.