Doctors at Gaza’s largest functioning hospital are warning of an imminent disaster as critical fuel shortages and intensified Israeli military operations bring Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis to the brink of collapse.
On Thursday, the hospital was forced to stop admitting new patients after Israeli tanks reportedly moved within 200 metres of the facility, firing shells and bullets near makeshift camps for displaced families. Witnesses said some of the tents were set ablaze as tanks advanced through a nearby cemetery. Although Israeli troops withdrew on Friday, the fear and damage left behind were unmistakable. “We are closer to death than to life,” medical staff inside the hospital told local journalists.
The hospital, currently treating hundreds of patients including dozens in intensive care relies on generators that are now expected to fail within hours. Staff say they’ve been rationing power to only the most critical units, such as neonatal and intensive care wards. “If the power goes out completely, patients dependent on ventilators will be in immediate danger and face certain death,” hospital administrators warned earlier this week.
The World Health Organisation has described the facility, which normally holds 350 beds but now houses over 700 patients, as “one massive trauma ward.” Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s Gaza representative, noted that many injuries stem from violence around aid distribution sites, including children and young men. One 13-year-old boy is now tetraplegic after being shot in the head; another 21-year-old is in the same condition with a bullet lodged in his neck.
On Friday, the Israeli military confirmed its forces were operating in Khan Younis to dismantle “terrorist infrastructure,” but made no comment on the reports of fire near the hospital or the cemetery trenches that were dug and abandoned by the army. Despite claims that 160,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza this week, Israeli authorities said its distribution “is not the army’s responsibility.”
Meanwhile, violence continued across Gaza. Ten people seeking food were reportedly shot dead near an aid distribution site in Rafah. In northern Gaza, a senior Hamas commander, Iyad Nasr, was killed along with his family in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced civilians in Jabalia. Another commander, Hassan Marii, died in a separate strike in Gaza City.
Back-channel negotiations in Qatar for a ceasefire and hostage release remain deadlocked. Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed a deal might be just “a few days” away and hinted at the release of 10 living hostages and over 15 bodies in a 60-day truce, Palestinian officials say major issues particularly troop withdrawals and unrestricted aid remain unresolved.
The war began after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, which left 1,200 people dead and 251 hostages taken. Since then, over 57,700 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, with Gaza’s healthcare system on the verge of collapse, over 90% of homes damaged or destroyed, and most residents displaced multiple times.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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