Israel-Hamas War: Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital Empty as Israeli Forces Close in

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — One of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza has been empty in recent days as Israel ordered the evacuation of nearby areas and signaled a possible ground operation in a town that has largely escaped the war, officials said Monday.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah is the main hospital serving central Gaza. The Israeli military has not ordered it to be evacuated, but patients and people who have taken refuge there fear it will be overwhelmed by fighting or become a target for airstrikes.

Israeli air strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis on Monday killed at least 12 people, according to local officials, and fighting between Israel and Hezbollah resumed. Across the Lebanese border.

Patients and their families move outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli forces stormed several hospitals in Gaza throughout the day. Ten month warHamas was accused of using them for military purposes, accusations denied by Palestinian health officials.

Israeli evacuation orders now cover About 84% of Gaza’s areaThe United Nations estimates that about 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forced to leave their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into swollen tent camps along the coast with few or no public services.

Associated Press reporters saw people fleeing the hospital and surrounding areas Monday, many on foot. Some were seen pushing patients on stretchers or carrying sick children, while others carried bags of clothes, mattresses and blankets. Four schools in the area were also being evacuated.

“Where will we get medicine?” said Adliya al-Najjar as she rested outside the hospital gate. “Where will patients like me go?”

Fatima al-Attar fought back tears as she left the hospital compound and headed toward the tent camps. “Our fate is death,” she said. “There is nowhere to go. There is nowhere safe.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that since Friday, the Israeli army has issued three evacuation orders for more than 19 neighborhoods in northern Gaza and Deir al-Balah, affecting more than 8,000 people living in these areas.

Jens Laerke, spokesman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the order affected an area where UN and other humanitarian centres, Al-Aqsa Hospital, two clinics, three wells, one water tank and a desalination plant are located.

“This would turn the work of a life-saving humanitarian center upside down,” Laerke said.

A woman sits on the sidewalk next to her belongings outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An explosion about 250 metres from the hospital on Sunday caused panic, speeding up the evacuation process, said Doctors Without Borders, an international charity.

“As a result, MSF is considering whether to suspend wound care for the time being, while trying to maintain life-saving treatment,” it said on the X platform.

The hospital said it was treating more than 600 patients before the evacuation orders, which apply to residential areas within a kilometre of the hospital, were issued. About 100 patients remain in the hospital, including seven in intensive care and eight in the children’s ward.

The Israeli military said it was operating against Hamas in Deir al-Balah and was dismantling the remaining infrastructure there. It said the evacuation orders were issued to protect civilians and did not include nearby hospitals or medical facilities. It said it had also told Palestinian health officials that the facilities did not need to be evacuated.

The military has exempted hospitals from previous evacuation orders, but patients and others are still fleeing for their safety.

The Israeli military said on Monday its forces were expanding their operations on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah, discovering weapons in an apartment and dismantling an underground Hamas tunnel about 700 metres (765 yards) long.

An Israeli airstrike hit a group of people on a beach in Gaza City, killing at least seven men as they were fishing, local health officials said.

Another strike hit a vehicle inside an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least five people, according to Palestinian sources. Kuwait Field Hospital Where the bodies were transported.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attacks.

The war began on October 7 when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli army bases and farming communities. The militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and wounded 1,000 others. About 250 hostages were taken away. Back to Gaza.

Israeli retaliatory attack Killed more than 40 thousand PalestiniansAccording to the Gaza health ministry, the Israeli offensive caused massive destruction across much of the territory. Hamas is still holding about 110 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to have died, after most of the rest were released as part of a ceasefire last year.

Israel continued to carry out raids across Gaza as the United States, Egypt and Qatar tried to mediate a permanent ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages. There are still big gaps. Despite several months of high-level negotiations.

Hospitals over and over again turned into battlefieldsliterally and in the competing narratives surrounding the war.

Israel says Hamas and other militants are hiding inside hospitals, which have served as shelters for thousands of displaced people, and using them for military purposes. The army has raided a number of medical facilities since the start of the war. He provided some evidence. Reports said some of the militants were inside. Medical staff deny the allegations and accuse the military of disregarding civilians.

Hospitals can lose their protected status under international law if they are used for military purposes, but any operations against them must be proportionate and seek to spare civilians.

According to the World Health Organization, only 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functioning, even as they treat victims of daily Israeli airstrikes across the territory. The difficulty of importing and distributing humanitarian aid into Gaza has exacerbated the problem. contributed to widespread hunger and illness Disease outbreaks, putting additional pressure on the health sector.