Blood on the ground, gunshots, screaming, smoke and destruction. Video footage shows how serious the attack on the Nasser hospital was. Soldiers entered armed on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, urged doctors, patients and refugees to leave the building as quickly as possible and opened fire. The sad balance: one dead and eight injured.
In recent days, the army had already carried out several attacks near the hospital. On Tuesday, the entrance gate was destroyed with a bulldozer: everyone who was still present at the time was advised to leave as quickly as possible. According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, both doctors and patients were faced with a terrible dilemma: stay and become a potential target or flee and end up “in an apocalyptic landscape that is being bombed.” Doctors in the intensive care unit were forced to flee and had no choice but to leave their doomed patients behind.
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© via REUTERS
Disgust
The attack is reacted with horror, especially because the Nasser hospital is the largest functioning hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip. But the Israeli army is also stepping up its offensive there, so there are fewer and fewer places left for the many wounded people where they can receive the necessary care. According to WHO CEO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the consequences are disastrous. “The hospitals that are still functioning are completely overloaded, overwhelmed and under-supplied,” he said.
Now that the Nasser hospital is also gone, the situation will only get worse. There are hardly any hospitals left to care for the injured in the region. And especially now that there have been several bombings recently in the southern city of Khan Younis, this care is essential.
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© via REUTERS
The Israeli army strongly denies carrying out indiscriminate attacks and killing innocent victims. This was a “targeted and limited operation” in the hospital, a spokesperson said, which was carried out on the basis of “reliable information”. This allegedly showed that Hamas fighters were hiding in the building and that there were also dead hostages, which Hamas denies.
“We are not out to harm innocent civilians. We are trying to find our hostages and bring them home,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari stressed.
Where to?
The remaining Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are becoming increasingly despondent. Now that the south of the Gaza Strip is also under fire, fears are growing that the remaining residents will flee into the Sinai desert. That would put severe pressure on the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, with potentially serious consequences for the region.
Because staying in Gaza is becoming less and less conceivable. The entire population is in need of food, fifteen aid organizations – including Handicap International and Plan International – reported in an emergency appeal on Thursday. Half a million people are threatened and are at risk of becoming victims of famine.
