Israel raids hospital as concern over Rafah grows

GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israeli forces said on Thursday they had raided the biggest functioning hospital in Gaza, as footage showed chaos, shouting and gunfire in dark corridors filled with dust and smoke.

Israel's military called the raid on Nasser Hospital "precise and limited" and said it was based on information that Hamas militants were hiding and had kept hostages in the facility.

Hamas had called that "lies".

Health authorities in the Hamasrun Palestinian enclave said Israel had forced out dozens of staff members, patients, displaced people and families of medical staff sheltering in the hospital.

Some 2,000 Palestinians arrived in the southern border city of Rafah overnight, while others pushed north to Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

The conflict began on Oct 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people, and seizing about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's air and ground offensive has since devastated tiny, crowded Gaza, killing at least 28,775 people, according to health authorities on Friday, and forcing nearly all of its more than 2 million inhabitants from their homes.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday that 77 of the 99 journalists killed last year were during the Israel-Hamas conflict, making the last 12 months the deadliest for the media in almost a decade.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders described a "chaotic situation" in the hospital after it was shelled early on Thursday, killing and wounding multiple people.

Muhammed Abu Sultan, one of the doctors from the MedGlobal team working with the UN children's agency UNICEF, said the poor health conditions in Gaza and lack of adequate food were causing widespread malnutrition.

Israel also announced on Thursday that its forces killed two commanders from Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

International pressure

Fighting at the hospital comes as Israel faces growing international pressure to show restraint, after vowing to press its offensive into Rafah, a southern city bordering Egypt.

The White House said US President Joe Biden had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone late on Thursday, urging him not to carry out an attack on Rafah without a plan to keep civilians safe.

In Cairo, efforts to secure a ceasefire entered a third day, with mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt trying to broker a deal to halt the fighting and see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Agencies - Xinhua