Medical professionals have warned of an impending crisis at Gaza’s largest operational hospital, citing a critical fuel shortage and the escalation of Israel’s ground offensive in Khan Younis.
Nasser Medical Complex reportedly ceased admitting patients on Thursday, as witnesses reported Israeli troops and tanks advancing into a cemetery approximately 200 meters (660 feet) from the facility and firing towards nearby camps housing displaced families. It was reported that the forces withdrew on Friday after conducting excavations in several areas.
Medical personnel and a number of patients requiring intensive care remain within the hospital, where the dwindling fuel supply threatens to halt vital life-saving services.
As of yet, there has been no official statement from the Israeli military.
However, on Friday morning, the military stated that an armored brigade was conducting operations in Khan Younis to dismantle “terrorist infrastructure sites” and seize weapons. Prior to this, evacuation orders were issued for the areas surrounding the hospital.
According to a BBC witness, Israeli tanks, accompanied by excavators and bulldozers, advanced from the southern section of the cemetery near Nasser hospital on Thursday.
The witness stated that the tanks fired shells and bullets as they moved into an area previously used for farmland, and a number of tents belonging to displaced families were set ablaze. Online video footage depicted a large plume of dark smoke rising from the area.
The witness further reported that Israeli quadcopter drones also fired towards tents in the Namsawi Towers and al-Mawasi areas to force residents to evacuate. Another video showed numerous individuals fleeing for cover amid the sound of gunfire.
Reports indicate that one or two civilians standing near the hospital’s gates sustained injuries from stray bullets.
Meanwhile, medical staff inside Nasser hospital sent messages to local journalists expressing their concerns. “We are still working in the hospital. The tanks are just meters away. We are closer to death than to life,” they wrote.
On Friday morning, local sources reported that Israeli tanks and troops had withdrawn from the cemetery and other areas in close proximity to the hospital.
Images shared online later in the day appeared to reveal deep trenches dug into the sandy ground, flattened structures, burnt tents, and crushed vehicles piled on top of one another.
Staff at Nasser hospital stated that they were evaluating whether they could resume admitting patients.
On Wednesday, hospital staff warned that the facility was on the brink of complete shutdown due to a severe fuel shortage.
They stated that electricity generators were expected to remain operational for only one additional day, despite significant efforts to reduce power consumption and restrict electricity to essential departments, including the intensive care and neonatal units.
The hospital added that a complete power outage would place dozens of patients, particularly those dependent on ventilators, “in immediate danger and face certain death.”
An Israeli military official told Reuters news agency on Thursday that approximately 160,000 liters of fuel intended for hospitals and other humanitarian facilities had entered Gaza since Wednesday, but that the army was not responsible for its distribution within the territory.
There is a shortage of essential medical supplies, particularly those required for trauma care.
During a visit to Nasser hospital last week, the Gaza representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) described it as “one massive trauma ward”.
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn stated in a video that the facility, which typically has a capacity of 350 beds, was treating approximately 700 patients, and that exhausted staff were working around the clock.
The director and doctors reported receiving hundreds of trauma cases over the past four weeks, the majority of which were related to incidents occurring around aid distribution sites, he added.
“There are many boys, young adolescents who are dying or getting the most serious injuries because they try to get some food for their families,” he said.
Among those cases were a 13-year-old boy who sustained a gunshot wound to the head and is now tetraplegic, and a 21-year-old man who has a bullet lodged in his neck and is also tetraplegic.
On Friday, 10 people seeking aid were reportedly killed by Israeli military fire near an aid distribution site in the nearby city of Rafah. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not issued a comment.
Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, a senior Hamas commander was among eight people killed in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia, according to a local source speaking to the BBC.
The source reported that Iyad Nasr, who led the Jabalia al-Nazla battalion, died alongside his family, including several children, and an aide when two missiles struck a classroom at Halima al-Saadia school.
Another Hamas commander, Hassan Marii, and his aide were reportedly killed in a separate air strike on an apartment in al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.
These events come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement could be reached within days, following the conclusion of his four-day trip to the US.
Before departing from Washington on Thursday night, he told Newsmax that the proposed agreement would involve Hamas releasing half of the 20 living hostages it is still holding and just over half of the 30 deceased hostages during a 60-day truce.
“So, we’ll have 10 living left and about 12 deceased hostages [remaining], but I’ll get them out, too. I hope we can complete it in a few days,” he added.
However, a Palestinian official informed the BBC that the indirect negotiations in Qatar have stalled, with disagreements pertaining to aid distribution and Israeli troop withdrawals.
The Israeli military initiated a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which approximately 1,200 individuals were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
According to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 57,762 people have been killed in Gaza since then.
The US has insisted that Iran’s nuclear facilities were completely ‘obliterated’ during strikes in June.
A group of Palestinian children and coaches were scheduled to participate in a tour of Ireland later this month.
A Palestinian official says key sticking points at the indirect negotiations in Qatar include how aid will be distributed.
The US president said talk were going “very well”, but a Palestinian source tells the BBC they have not made headway.
Israel Katz tells Israeli media the so-called “humanitarian city” in Rafah will eventually house 2.1 million Palestinians.