Israeli special forces raided one of the last hospitals in Gaza in the hope of retrieving hostages’s bodies. The search did result in some civilians killed, though it is unknown if Hamas was guarding the location.
The hospital has been particularly important for Palestinians, who have been gradually pushed towards Southern Gaza. Israel is doing a methodical search of every inch in Gaza to retrieve their hostages, whether dead or alive. The Washington Post says:
Israeli forces raided Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Thursday. The Israel Defense Forces said it was conducting an operation to recover the bodies of hostages, while the Gaza Health Ministry accused the IDF of storming the complex “after demolishing the southern wall,” and turning it into a military base.
One patient was killed and others were injured when Israeli forces targeted a building within the hospital, the Health Ministry said early Thursday.
Israeli troops were also digging up recent graves, thinking the hostages could be buried there. Prior to the attack,the Israel Army warned patients to leave, though many stayed due to the firefight outside. The NY Times continues:
The military did not say whether hostages or Hamas fighters had been found. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza, said that Israeli forces had used bulldozers to dig up graves on the hospital grounds.
For two days before the raid, Israeli forces surrounding the medical center had told displaced people over loudspeakers to evacuate, signaling that a raid was coming, though international rights and medical groups warned of dire consequences. Some of the Palestinians who took refuge there did leave, but others said it was too dangerous — some had tried and said that gunfire and airstrikes had forced them to turn back.
The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza should hopefully slow down once all the hostages are retrieved.
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