Thousands seen evacuating from Khan Younis hospital where they sheltered
Palestinians sheltering in the main hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis have begun to leave under the Israeli military’s order, videos shared by medics show.
Videos show dozens of Palestinians carrying sacks of their belongings and making their way out of the Nasser Hospital complex. Though medical staff and patients have been told they need not leave the premises, a doctor wearing green hospital scrubs is seen walking ahead of the crowd, some of whom were carrying white flags.
BREAKING: The Israeli occupation army forces hundreds of Palestinian civilians out of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. pic.twitter.com/lvS5mtLkfG
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 14, 2024
The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of the hospital and surrounding areas last month.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claimed last week that Israeli snipers on surrounding buildings were preventing people from entering or leaving the hospital and 10 people have been killed inside the complex over the past week, including three shot and killed on Tuesday. Its numbers or accounts cannot be confirmed and the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis, latest. Echoes of Al Shifa Hospital horrors replayed. Lives lost to sniper fire, as drones, loudspeakers, tanks, and snipers impose a grim normalcy in Gaza’s sanctuaries. #Gaza #Israel #Gaza_Genocide #Nasser_hospital #KhanYounis pic.twitter.com/b8vSjZHoJ4
— Lens Veritatis (@LensVeritatis) February 14, 2024
The ministry says around 300 medical staff were treating some 450 patients, including people wounded in strikes. It says 10,000 displaced people were sheltering in the facility.
It said Israel had ordered the evacuation of the displaced people but said the medics and patients could stay.
There is no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian buildings as cover.
