Israel stages air strikes across Gaza, makes arrests at hospital
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Israeli plans to storm Rafah have prompted international concern that such action would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
CAIRO/JERUSALEM - Israeli forces carried out arrests in Gaza’s largest functioning hospital, health officials and the military said on Feb 17, as air strikes hit across the enclave and rain battered Palestinians taking shelter in Rafah.
Israeli forces raided the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Feb 15 as they pressed their war on Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that rules the enclave.
“Occupation forces detained a large number of medical staff members inside Nasser Medical Complex, which they (Israel) turned into a military base,” said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra.
The Israeli military said it was hunting for militants in Nasser and had so far arrested 100 suspects on the premises, killed gunmen near the hospital and found weapons inside it.
Hamas has denied allegations that its fighters use medical facilities for cover. At least two released Israeli hostages have said they were held in Nasser.
The Israeli incursion into the hospital
About 10,000 people were seeking shelter at the hospital earlier this week, but many left either in anticipation of the Israeli raid or because of Israeli orders to evacuate, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Farther south in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are sheltering, the winter cold added to already dire conditions when wind blew away some tents of the displaced and rain flooded others.
Israeli plans to storm Rafah have prompted international concern that such action would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the group said in a statement on Feb 17.
Mr Haniyeh added that Hamas would not accept anything less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and “lifting of the unjust siege”, as well as a release of Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli jails.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “complete victory” over Hamas, but added on Feb 14 that flexibility in the group’s position could move forward negotiations for a deal that would see hostages released.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has devastated much of Gaza and forced nearly all of its inhabitants from their homes.
The Palestinian health authorities say more than 28,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.
The war began when Hamas sent fighters into Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
At least 83 people were killed in air strikes across the Gaza Strip since Feb 16, health officials said, including one person on Feb 17 in Rafah, an area that borders Egypt and which Israel says is Hamas’ last bastion.
The Israeli military said its jets had killed numerous militants in Gaza fighting since Feb 16.
Across the border, air raid sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Feb 17. REUTERS
