The World Health Organization has announced that Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip has ceased functioning following an Israeli attack.
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops entered the facility on Thursday and said intelligence officials indicated hostages captured by Hamas were being held there.
WHO said it was not authorized to enter the site to assess the situation.
The IDF described the operation in Nasser as “precise and limited” and accused Hamas of “cynically using hospitals for terrorism.”
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on
“Yesterday and the day before yesterday, the WHO team was not allowed to enter the hospital to assess the patient's condition and critical medical needs, despite arriving at the hospital premises with partners to deliver fuel,” he said. There wasn't.”
“There are still about 200 patients in the hospital. At least 20 need to be urgently referred to other hospitals for medical care. Medical referral is the right of every patient.”
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said only four medical staff remained at the hospital and were caring for the remaining patients.
A hospital official, who requested anonymity, told BBC News that 11 patients had died and several doctors had been arrested after electricity and oxygen supplies were cut off.
Yesterday, the Israeli military announced that its forces had been instructed to continue operating the hospital and that food and water had been delivered. Asked this morning about the situation at the hospital, a military spokesperson said only that it was under examination.
Fighting has continued for weeks around the Nasser compound. Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas uses hospitals, along with schools, as operational bases.
The Israeli military said it had killed about 20 Hamas fighters and seized numerous weapons near the hospital.
“Dozens of terrorists have been eliminated in the past day and a large amount of weapons have been seized,” the IDF said in a statement.
At least 1,200 people were killed in an attack on Israel by Hamas-led armed groups on October 7 last year.
In response, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip. More than 28,400 Palestinians, mainly women and children, have been killed and more than 68,000 injured since the war began, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
It added that at least 127 Palestinians had been killed and 205 injured in the past 24 hours.
“The pattern of the past few days. [is] It's not very promising in reality, but as we always repeat, we are always optimistic and we always keep moving forward,” Sheikh Mohammed said at a world summit held at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Ta.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had sent negotiators at the request of US President Joe Biden, but added that he would not return to further talks because Hamas' demands were “delusional”.
Hamas has accused Israel of not making progress in reaching a ceasefire agreement.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also warned that the Israeli government is moving further south into Gaza, including the Rafah area, despite international pressure not to do so without a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians who were initially evacuated to Gaza. He reiterated that he is continuing to advance his ground invasion. war.
About 1.5 million people are staying in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, after being directed by the Israeli military to seek safety amid attacks on Hamas targets in northern and then central Gaza.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday reiterated his opposition to the forced relocation of Palestinians to Egypt's Sinai Desert.
In a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, the two leaders instead agreed on “the need for rapid progress on a ceasefire,” according to the summary.
Sisi has long argued that the only solution is an independent Palestinian state.
But on Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the government had voted unanimously to formally oppose what it called “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state.
He said such an agreement must be reached through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Israel completely rejects the international mandate for a permanent agreement with the Palestinians. If an agreement is to be reached, it will only be achieved through direct negotiations between both sides, without preconditions,” the government statement said.