Israeli forces search Gaza hospital as power goes out

Israeli special forces were searching south Gaza's main hospital on Friday for the remains of hostages, when Gaza officials announced that a power outage at the medical center had caused the deaths of five Palestinians in the intensive care unit.

As the raid left the Nasser Medical Center hospital barely functioning at a time when Gaza's overall healthcare system is struggling, the Israeli army announced it had arrested 20 people it said had taken part in the Hamas action of October 7. led attacks on southern Israel.

Gaza's health ministry said electrical generators had failed and all power was out at the hospital, but did not indicate why. The ministry said on Facebook that the Israeli army was in control of the complex, which it entered early Thursday. On Friday, the World Health Organization said it was urgently requesting access there.

The Israeli army said in a statement on Friday that it had detained dozens of people for questioning during the search of the hospital. It also said its forces found Hamas mortars and grenades in the area.

The Israeli military later said that troops had found medicines bearing the names of Israeli hostages during the search. The source of the drugs and how they were used were “under investigation,” the military said. While Israel and Hamas reached an agreement last month allowing medicines to be delivered to Israeli hostages, it was unclear whether these had reached the prisoners.

The purpose of the hospital raid was to verify intelligence that the bodies of two hostages were there, arrest or kill Hamas militants, and detain the relatives of senior Hamas officials, said an intelligence official, speaking at condition of anonymity under protocol.

Since Tuesday, Israeli forces have questioned all people leaving the hospital to determine whether they are Hamas members, according to three security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to communicate with the media.

As of Friday evening, the military had not yet announced that it had found the bodies of hostages.

Neither the Israeli statements nor those of Gaza authorities could be independently verified. Communications with people inside the Nasser complex, in the town of Khan Younis, have been extremely irregular since the Israeli army entered the compound, broke through the perimeter and entered the complex amid explosions and gunfire.

Gaza's Health Ministry said Friday morning that the interruption of the hospital's power supply endangered the lives of six adult patients in intensive care and three infants in incubators dependent on oxygen. About 40 minutes later, the ministry said three of the patients had died. The deaths of two others who had been dependent on oxygen were later announced.

Oxygen is pumped from a central station to patients' beds, a process that requires power, Ashraf al-Qidra, a ministry spokesman, said in an interview.

He noted that 186 patients, 95 health workers and 176 other people were still in hospital. Of the remaining patients, according to Mr al-Qidra, eighteen were in a particularly worrying condition.

Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman, could not confirm reports that some patients had died after the hospital's electrical generators failed and power was cut. But he said there is an urgent need for fuel to run the hospital's generators and ensure the continuation of life-saving services.

He called the reports from the hospital “very alarming” and said the agency “fears for the safety” of people still in hospital.

“There are still seriously injured and sick patients in hospital,” Mr Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva. “We urgently request access.”

Before the raid began on Thursday, the WHO had reported that the hospital had 402 patients, including about 80 in intensive care.

Video footage showed chaotic scenes in the hospital's smoke-filled corridors, with parts of the ceiling collapsing and wire and beams sticking out as stretchers rushed past.

On Friday, the status of talks aimed at reaching a new ceasefire agreement and an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel was unclear.

After officials from a number of countries, including Israel and the United States, failed to reach a breakthrough on a possible deal during talks in Cairo on Tuesday, an Egyptian and a US official, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said talks involving lower levels, Level officials would continue for three days.

On Wednesday, Israeli news media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had told his negotiators not to participate further in the discussions.

Officials involved in the talks did not speak publicly about their progress on Friday, making it unclear whether they would continue, and at what level, after the three-day period ended.

The attack on the Nasser complex took place as Israel continued to accuse Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes.

The Israeli raid on Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza in November uncovered a tunnel shaft made of stone and concrete below. And in January, the army said it had spotted mortar fire from the Nasser complex towards Israeli soldiers.

Nasser was the largest functioning hospital in Gaza. Two days before the attack, the Israeli army began ordering the evacuation of the thousands of civilians sheltering there the complexwhich caused alarm among international observers.

“Nasser is the backbone of the healthcare system in southern Gaza,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. wrote on the social platform X earlier in the week. “It needs to be protected.”

Aaron Bokserman contributed reporting from Jerusalem, Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva and Ben Hubbard from Istanbul.