Medical facilities in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, were blasted during an Israeli assault on Monday, according to Palestinian health sources, as the number of persons killed in Israel’s siege of Gaza continues to increase.
The new onslaught in western Khan Younis has killed and wounded dozens of people, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry. The region includes medical institutions such as the Nasser Medical Complex, Al Amal Hospital, and the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters.
“The situation here is just awful. We did not sleep last night. “The hospital is completely besieged,” Ahmad Al Moghrabi, a doctor at the Nasser Medical Complex, said in a video posted on his Instagram page Monday.
Palestinian Officials In Gaza, As Death Toll Rises
“There is no means for us to leave the hospital and no way to evacuate. “The troops are everywhere, and the only roads for evacuation are littered with dead bodies,” he claimed.
According to the health ministry, the Nasser Medical Complex is getting more critical injuries than it can handle, and the intensive care units are at full capacity.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff at the Nasser hospital claimed “there is a sense of panic among staff, patients and displaced people sheltering inside the building,” as they could feel the ground shaking during the strikes, according to MSF on social media.
MSF said that the hospital wards are full and exit routes are obstructed, preventing medical workers and patients from being evacuated.
According to health officials, Israeli forces invaded the Al Khair Hospital west of Khan Younis on Monday and imprisoned some of its medical workers as part of an ongoing “siege” of the area.
The Israeli military stated that it was targeting Hamas outposts, infrastructure, and command and control centres in Khan Younis, which required “precise operations” due to the highly populated civilian areas.
The military operation, which began on Sunday, is being directed by Israel’s 98th Paratroopers Division and is likely to take several days, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), which did not provide any further timeframe specifics.
“Dismantling Hamas’ military framework in western Khan Younis is the heart of the logic behind the operation,” the statement went on to say.
Medical Facilities Battered Amid Israeli Assault In Khan Younis
The IDF said it had detected terrorists in “sensitive sites” such as hospitals and shelters in densely populated civilian areas.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society stated that its headquarters and the Al-Amal Hospital, both located in the same neighbourhood, are “under siege” by Israeli forces, with soldiers “targeting anyone who tries to move in the area.”
A field ambulance point has been constructed outside the Al-Amal neighbourhood, which houses the medical facilities to guarantee that activities continue.
However, the organisation stated that the situation remains “extremely dangerous” and that over 80% of Al-Amal’s entrances and exits are blocked. Ambulance personnel are dealing with “significant difficulties in reaching the wounded and injured due to the continuous bombardment in the governorate.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has expressed “deep concern” over reports of fighting, warning that violence near Al-Amal hospital and the raid on Al-Khair not only endangers patients and people seeking safety within these facilities but also prevent newly injured people outside the hospitals from being reached and receiving care.
Israel’s siege of Gaza has wrecked large areas of the territory, reduced food, fuel, and water supplies, and destroyed the enclave’s medical infrastructure. According to the UN Organisation for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), more than 1.9 million Palestinians have been forcibly relocated, many of them many times.
On Sunday, the UN’s humanitarian affairs office announced that 16 of the strip’s 36 hospitals are partially operational, with nine in southern Gaza and seven in northern Gaza.
Three hospitals in southern Gaza – Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir El-Balah and Nasser and Gaza European hospitals in Khan Younis – are “at risk of closure due to the issuance of evacuation orders in adjacent areas and the ongoing conduct of hostilities nearby,” according to OCHA.
According to OCHA, the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has been operational to a “limited degree” since mid-January.
The Health Ministry reported Monday that the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7 has risen to 25,295, with at least 63,000 injured. In the last 24 hours, at least 190 people have been murdered and 340 injured, according to a Ministry statement.
CNN is unable to independently verify casualty figures in Gaza because of limited access.
Medical Facilities Battered Amid Israeli Assault In Khan Younis, Say Palestinian Officials In Gaza, As Death Toll Rises
The Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ terrorist arm, stated in a statement Monday that they were fighting in the western Khan Younis area and had killed several Israeli soldiers with anti-personnel rockets.
Ahmed Naseem, a resident of Khan Younis’ Al-Amal neighbourhood, told CNN on Monday that “intense” bombardment of the area began early Monday morning.
“There has been significant bombardment in the neighbourhood since the early hours of Monday. “I could feel it strongly from the building I live in,” Nassem remarked. “We don’t even dare open the windows to see where these attacks are happening,” he said.
He stated that he is “terrified of filming the scenes taking place nearby” because he believes he may be shot at if a drone catches him in the act.
“We can’t even go to the rooftop because we cannot determine if drones will fire at us,” he said. “A few days ago, water tanks were destroyed when drones fired directly at them. “My cousin, who was filling water at the time of the strike, came close to being hit but survived,” he said.
SOURCE – (CNN)
