Overwhelmed by war, another hospital in Gaza is declared 'non-functional'
The largest medical facility that can still function in wartime Gaza is now a hospital in little more than name, the head of the World Health Organization said on Sunday.
After a week of siege by the Israeli army, only about 20 critically ill patients remain at Nasser Hospital – but even that is too many to handle, says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The Nasser Hospital in Gaza is no longer functional,” says Dr. Tedros said on social media.
Dr. Tedros said on Sunday that about 200 patients remained in the hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, and that about 20 of them needed to be urgently transferred elsewhere. “The cost of delays will be paid by the lives of the patients,” he said.
Israel has justified its military actions at the hospital by saying Hamas militants have used the hospital and other medical centers to hide military activities, and on Sunday it said it had found both weapons and Hamas militants in the Nasser complex.
Hamas has repeatedly denied using hospitals as fronts.
On Thursday, after days of repeated orders for the thousands of civilians taking refuge in the hospital to leave, Israeli forces launched a raid.
Asked about the WHO statement, an Israeli army spokesman, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, said in a briefing that “it is in our best interests that the hospital continues to function.” He said that work was being done there to repair a broken generator and that a temporary generator was in use.
But the Israeli military also said its forces continued to deploy to Nasser Hospital and nearby areas, and that they had discovered more weapons there.
Dr. Tedros said WHO workers who reached the hospital this weekend had not been allowed to enter it to assess the patients' conditions, but he said fuel had been delivered to the medical facility.
His statement came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said talks to reach a ceasefire and a deal for the release of hostages taken in the October 7 Hamas-led attack were at an impasse. Mr Netanyahu said his government is pressing ahead with plans for a ground offensive in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, despite mounting international warnings about the humanitarian costs.
With Israel under pressure to suspend its military assault in Gaza, which began after the Hamas-led cross-border attack in October, the Israeli cabinet met on Sunday and approved a resolution rejecting all efforts by the international community to grant Israel a Palestinian state. to impose were rejected.
The move – largely symbolic – followed recent comments from some Israeli allies suggesting they might consider simply recognizing a Palestinian state ahead of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Mr. Netanyahu, who presented the resolution to his cabinet, described its adoption as a “declarative decision” that was necessary “in light of comments recently heard in the international community.”
While the Biden administration has tried to broker a deal to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Saudi officials have said the prospects for success depend on Israel's willingness to work toward a two-state solution — i.e. say the creation of a Palestinian state next to it.
Mr Netanyahu has rejected recent pressure from President Biden to agree to that path after the war in Gaza is over, and has doubled down on his opposition in recent weeks.
The final wording of the Israeli resolution adopted on Sunday appeared to be carefully crafted with the aim of catering to both ultranationalist members of Netanyahu's right-wing government, who oppose the idea of negotiations with the Palestinians, and centrists who joined the government. government after the war started.
The resolution did not explicitly rule out the possibility of a Palestinian state, but instead focused on the process.
“Israel completely rejects international dictates on a permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” it said, adding that “any settlement, if it is to be reached, will be achieved exclusively through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.” ”
A Netanyahu rival who joined the war cabinet after the Hamas attack, Benny Gantz, echoed the prime minister's comments about a Rafah invasion.
“The world needs to know, and Hamas leaders need to know: if our hostages are not home by Ramadan, the fighting will continue into the Rafah area,” he said in a speech on Sunday. The holy month of fasting for Muslims is expected to begin on March 10.
Addressing concerns about the humanitarian toll, Mr. Gantz pledged that any military action would be “done in a coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians” with the help of American and Egyptian officials.
More than a million Palestinians fled to Rafah and elsewhere in the south to escape the fighting in the north. Many ended up at Nasser Hospital seeking shelter, but left there last week when Israeli forces issued evacuation orders.
After the hospital raid, Israeli forces reported detaining “hundreds” of people, including some they said took part in the October 7 attack. The Israeli military also said it had discovered weapons in the medical complex and evidence linked to the attack. One vehicle found there belonged to Nir Oz, an Israeli kibbutz that was the scene of a massacre that day, the Israelis said.
It was not possible to independently verify either claim about the situation there.
During a visit to Israeli forces operating at the hospital, the chief of Israel's Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, described the attack there as a “precise, high-quality and targeted operation.”
But on Sunday the Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli shelling had hit another hospital in Gaza, Al-Amal, causing serious damage.