Israeli forces carried out arrests at Gaza's largest functioning hospital, health and military officials said on Saturday, as air strikes hit the Strip and rain poured on Palestinians taking refuge in Rafah.
Palestinians look at the destruction caused by an Israeli raid on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip.credit: AP
Israeli forces raided Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on Thursday, as part of their war on Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that rules the Strip.
Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said: The occupation forces arrested a large number of medical staff inside the Al-Nasser Medical Complex, which Israel turned into a military base.
The Israeli army said that it was chasing gunmen in Nasser and that it had so far arrested 100 suspects in the building, killed gunmen near the hospital, and weapons were found inside.
Hamas denied allegations that its fighters were using medical facilities for shelter. At least two of the released Israeli hostages said they were being held in Nasser, and Israel published photos and videos supporting its claims that Hamas was operating inside the medical complexes.
The Israeli invasion of the hospital raised concerns about patients, medical workers and displaced Palestinians who took refuge there.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said that about 10,000 people sought shelter in the hospital earlier this week, but many of them left either in anticipation of the Israeli raid or because of Israeli orders to evacuate.
Further south in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people live, the winter cold added to already harsh conditions when winds toppled some displaced people's tents and rain flooded others.
Lead mediator Qatar said on Saturday that talks on a possible ceasefire agreement in Gaza “have not progressed as expected” in the past few days after good progress in recent weeks.
Speaking during the Munich Security Conference, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani noted difficulties in the “humanitarian part” of the negotiations.
Netanyahu, who is under pressure to return the remaining hostages taken in the October 7 Hamas attack, said he sent a delegation to ceasefire talks in Cairo earlier in the week at the request of US President Joe Biden but saw no point in doing so. Send them back.
Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinians detained by Israel.
Reuters, AFP
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