After the Nasser Hospital bombing in Khan Younes, Gaza Strip, the patients trapped inside are concerned

On Saturday, February 17, concerns grew for patients trapped at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, under attack by the Israeli army, as a series of bombardments in the Palestinian territory killed dozens overnight, the health ministry said. The Gaza Strip is administered by Hamas.

According to a new statement from the ministry on Saturday, six patients, including a child, have died since Friday due to a power cut that cut off oxygen supply after an attack by Israeli troops at Nasser Hospital.

“Newborn babies are at risk of dying in the coming hours”, the ministry reported that about a hundred people were killed overnight by Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip. He said five doctors attending to one hundred and twenty patients are still in a building without electricity, water, food or oxygen at Nasser Hospital.

Medical staff were arrested

Israeli forces “Detain many more medical staff, patients and displaced persons in the maternity building and subject them to inhumane treatment”he added.

On Friday evening, the Israeli military announced on its Telegram account that it had found and seized mortars, grenades and other weapons belonging to Hamas. “tens” The suspects are in the hospital “More than twenty terrorists participated in the October 7 massacre [2023] ».

The Israeli army said on Friday that its soldiers had found medicine with the hostages' names written on it at Nasser Hospital. He said he repaired the hospital's generator, denying he had targeted it, and installed a second, emergency one. Doctors described the unacceptable situation at the hospital, which has been turned into a city full of rubble and has sheltered thousands of displaced people, beset by strife.

Hamas threatens to withdraw from ceasefire talks

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced that its staff “Had to run away from patients”. “The situation is chaotic, catastrophic”, MSF Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear told Agence France-Presse (AFP). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nasser Hospital is now one of eleven of the thirty-six in the pre-war Gaza Strip. “Just Doesn't Work”. “More damage to hospital means more lives lost”WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic called for urgent access to the hospital complex from WHO during a press conference in Geneva on Friday.

Meanwhile, the international community is stepping up its calls to stop Israel from launching an offensive in Rafah, a crowded city with nearly one and a half million civilians trapped against its closed border with Egypt. The European Union announced itself on Friday “very concerned” From this point of view, and emphasized Israel “Do not launch a military operation in Rafah that would worsen the already disastrous humanitarian situation”.

On Saturday evening, Hamas threatened to withdraw from cease-fire talks unless more aid is quickly delivered to the Gaza Strip, including the famine-stricken northern part of the territory. “There can be no negotiations until hunger devours the Palestinian people. “The Movement wants to suspend negotiations until aid is delivered to Northern Gaza.”said one “leader” In a press release broadcast by al-Aqsa, a channel of the Hamas movement.

A senior official of the Palestinian Islamic Movement was questioned by AFP, confirming anonymity “Egyptian and Qatari mediators have been informed of Hamas' intention to suspend negotiations until aid is delivered to the Gaza Strip, including the north.”. Qatar's prime minister confirmed on Saturday “Negotiations [n’étaient] Not very promising ».