The Israeli military, using loudspeakers, has urged displaced people sheltering in Nasser Hospital, located in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to vacate the premises and relocate to a designated area within the city.
Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry, confirmed that people at the hospital had received evacuation orders.
Hazem Bahloul, a general practitioner at the hospital, said in a WhatsApp message that the Israeli army began issuing the instructions in the early morning. Bahloul said between 5,000 and 7,000 displaced people are leaving the hospital.
“Everyone capable of moving must leave the hospital, whether they are displaced or seeking medical treatment,” he said.
The Israeli army began its ground attack on Khan Younis in mid-November. Israel considers the city a stronghold of Hamas where a number of political and military leaders are stationed.
The fate of those vacating the hospital remains uncertain. Footage shared by activists on social media captured hundreds of Palestinians leaving Nasser Hospital, accompanied by commands from a soldier via loudspeakers, directing them toward the Khan Younis municipality building.
Bassem Naeem, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said in a statement that an “incursion” of Nasser Hospital “means a new massacre against our people and the health system.”
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Wednesday: “The troops opened a secure route to evacuate the civilian population taking shelter in the area of the Nasser Hospital toward the humanitarian zone,” adding that the evacuation was “being conducted in a controlled and precise manner.”
Israel has repeatedly besieged hospitals in the Gaza Strip, arguing that Hamas uses them as cover for its military operations. The IDF alleged in late January that militants were “operating from inside and around” Nasser Hospital.
In recent days, the situation at the hospital has grown increasingly dire, with reports of displaced people being shot by Israeli snipers as they left the premises. Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israel had attacked nearby buildings, causing fires that spread and destroyed the hospital’s storage sites for medical supplies. Sewage water was flooding the emergency department, Health Ministry officials said. Qudra previously said Israeli forces demolished the hospital’s northern wall.
Repeated volleys of shots could be heard near the hospital, as black smoke billowed from nearby buildings that had been struck, according to footage posted to Instagram on Tuesday by Mahmoud Abu Shammala, a surgeon at Nasser Hospital.
Abu Shammala’s videos also showed Israeli tanks surrounding the hospital.
