Crisis unfolds in Gaza hospital as scores of patients crammed without care

At least 150 patients in need of medical care are crammed in rooms and corridors of the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested 70 medical staff and refused to evacuate the patients so that they could receive treatment in other hospitals, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement.

Among the patients are seven in intensive care, five undergoing dialysis, three children in the neonatal unit, as well as cases of burns, amputations, quadriplegia and childbirth, the statement added.

The Israeli army has turned the hospital into military barracks, the ministry said in a previous statement on Sunday.

“The Israeli army has arrested 70 medics at the facility,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

The complex “cannot handle cases that require extreme clinical care,” he added.

The Israeli army on Thursday stormed the hospital, forcing everyone inside to evacuate and flee for their lives. Yet a small medical team stayed inside to take care of patients in critical condition, who were all held in one building of the hospital by the Israeli army amid a lack of basic needs.

Since Jan. 22, Khan Younis has witnessed a massive Israeli ground invasion, forcing tens of thousands of the city’s residents to flee under heavy Israeli bombardment.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. The ensuing Israeli attacks have killed nearly 29,000 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.