Bodies of hostages likely held in Gaza hospital: Israeli army

Following an Israeli army attack on a hospital in southern Gaza that medical professionals claim has been “besieged” for a month, the Israeli army said on Thursday that hostage bodies might be kept inside.

Following fierce combat between troops and Hamas operatives outside the hospital, the military announced that troops were engaged in a “precise and limited operation” inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.

“We have credible intelligence from a number of sources, including from released hostages, indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and that there may be bodies of our hostages in the Nasser hospital facility,” it said in a statement.

Thousands of people, including patients, who had taken refuge at the Nasser hospital in recent days were forced to leave, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

After the hospital’s orthopaedic ward was apparently struck, another camera clip showed rescuers attempting to relocate patients to safer areas.

Rescuers with mobile flashlights were observed carrying a sick individual on a blanket amidst falling debris, and another patient was being dragged along a bed.

A row of patients on their beds in a crowded hallway of the hospital’s medical building was depicted in another video that the Gaza health ministry shared.

Israeli soldiers have conducted numerous raids on hospitals throughout the Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas agents are using the buildings as command centers.

Such claims are refuted by Hamas, and the Israeli military has not provided verifiable evidence of such command centers.

As only a small percentage of hospitals in Gaza are even partially operating, the World Health Organization has characterized Nasser Hospital as a vital facility “for all of Gaza”.

Reports from Nasser Hospital, which he described as the “backbone of the health system in southern Gaza,” “alarmed” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, on Wednesday.

The conditions at Nasser have been described as “catastrophic” by Gaza’s health ministry, with staff members unable to transfer bodies to the morgue due to the dangers.

The armed forces stated that their “mission is to ensure that the Nasser hospital continues its important function of treating Gazan patients” .

Hamas carried out an unprecedented strike on October 7 that left roughly 1,160 persons in Israel dead, the majority of them civilians.

Approximately 250 individuals were also kidnapped by Palestinian agents. 29 of them are reportedly dead, while over 130 are still being held captive in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Earlier this week, following an explosion that killed over 100 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli forces freed two hostages from the southern city of Rafah in Gaza.

According to the health ministry of the territory, at least 28,663 people have died in Gaza since the start of the conflict, the most of them were women, children, and teenagers.