Palestinian refugees leave a Gaza hospital after weeks of isolation

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RAFAH, Gaza Strip – Palestinians began evacuating the main hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, according to videos shared by doctors on Wednesday. Weeks of heavy fighting isolated the medical facility and killed several people inside.

The fifth month of war between Israel and Hamas has devastated Gaza's health sector, with less than half of its hospitals even partially functional as daily bombardments kill and injure scores of people. Israel accuses militants of using hospitals and other civilian buildings as hideouts.

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Khan Younis is the main target of a mobile ground offensive that Israel says will soon expand to the southern Gaza city of Rafah. About 1.4 million people – more than half of the territory's population – are crammed into tent camps and overcrowded apartments and shelters in the city on the Egyptian border.

Video footage shows dozens of Palestinians leaving the Nasser hospital complex with their belongings in sacks. A doctor wearing green hospital scrubs walked in front of the crowd, some of whom held up white flags.

The Israeli military said it had opened a safe passageway that allowed civilians to leave the hospital while doctors and patients remained inside. Troops were ordered to “prioritize the safety of civilians, patients, medical personnel and medical facilities during operations.”

The military ordered the evacuation of the hospital and its surrounding areas last month. But as in other health facilities, doctors said they could not safely leave patients or be relocated, while thousands of people displaced by fighting elsewhere remained. Nowhere in the besieged Palestinian territory is safe as Israel continues to strike all parts of it.

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Gaza's Health Ministry said last week that Israeli snipers in surrounding buildings were preventing people from entering or leaving the hospital. He said 10 people were killed in the complex last week, including three who were shot on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry, about 300 medical workers are treating 450 patients, including those injured during the strike. It said 10,000 displaced people were sheltered in the facility.

The war erupted after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing about 250. During a week-long ceasefire in November, Israel released more than 100 hostages for 240 Palestinians held in prison.

Israel responded to the attack by launching one of the most devastating and destructive air and ground attacks in recent history. At least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, the Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

This includes more than 100 bodies brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours. According to the ministry, more than 68,000 people have been injured in the war, including about 11,000 people who need to be evacuated for urgent treatment.

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About 80 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, large swaths of northern Gaza have been completely destroyed, and the humanitarian crisis has left a quarter of the population starving.

Fighting can also trigger a wider conflict. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exchanged fire with Israeli forces on a daily basis along the border. A rocket attack hit a house in the northern Israeli city of Safed on Wednesday, injuring at least eight people.

Israeli media reported that a woman was killed in the attack, but the military did not immediately confirm the report.

The United States, which has provided significant military and diplomatic support to Israel, is working with Qatar and Egypt to try to end the ceasefire and return the remaining 130 hostages, a quarter of whom are believed to be dead.

Negotiators held talks in Cairo on Tuesday, attended by CIA Director William Burns and David Barnea, head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, but there were no signs of progress.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “completely defeat” Hamas and continue the war until all hostages are returned. Hamas has said it will not release all prisoners until Israel ends its offensive, pulls out of Gaza and releases many Palestinian prisoners, including high-ranking militants. Netanyahu rejected the claims and called them “deluded”.

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