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Gaza's Largest Remaining Hospital Is Near Collapse, Doctors Without Borders Says
Relatives mourn over the bodies of people killed when the tent where they were sheltering was hit by Israeli bombardment, at the morgue of the Nasser medical center in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Jan. 4.
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AFP via Getty Images
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TEL AVIV, Israel — Doctors Without Borders says the largest remaining medical facility in the Gaza Strip, Nasser Hospital, is now unable to provide critical medical care.
The nonprofit medical organization said in a statement on Friday that there are now few places for those who need care in Khan Younis to go.
The Israeli army said on Tuesday that it had encircled Khan Younis, Gaza's second largest city, and was battling Hamas fighters. Israel intensified fighting this week and ordered the evacuation of everyone in certain neighborhoods, including the hospital.
Nasser Hospital is one of the main medical facilities operating in Khan Younis. Gaza's health ministry reported on Wednesday that no one was able to enter or exit because of bombardment.
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NPR has learned that mediators have quietly given Hamas a proposal to hand over all its weapons to ensure Gaza's reconstruction. -
Israel has strengthened its security with a series of sweeping military victories in the past two years. It has also become far more isolated internationally, with no clear path ahead. -
Israel's military has begun striking the Gaza Strip again, as Israel and Hamas traded blame for violating the ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump.
What we know so far
Death toll and casualties
- Israeli officials report an attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. In addition, they say about 250 people were taken hostage, some have since been released.
- Gaza health officials have reported more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
— NPR (Jan. 24)
The hospital was also sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians who had escaped fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Doctors Without Borders, which also goes by its French acronym MSF, said many people including most of the hospital staff fled during the evacuation order. It said that almost 350 patients remain inside the hospital and are stuck because it's too dangerous to get out.
Sponsored message
"These systematic attacks against health care are unacceptable and must end now so that the wounded can get the care they need," Guillemette Thomas, MSF's medical coordinator for Gaza and the West Bank, said in a statement.
MSF described doctors feeling helpless inside the hospital as they told of dire conditions such as a lack of beds and other basic supplies. One doctor quoted by MSF said doctors were squeezing out blood from gauze and sterilizing it to be reused.
Israel continues to escalate its assault in Gaza as a response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that killed almost 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage. About 130 people are still in captivity in Gaza, according to Israel. Gaza's health ministry has reported that the number of Palestinians killed has topped 25,000.
Understanding how we got here
The history of this region is both complicated and fraught. Here is some context about what led up to the most recent attacks and counterattacks.
NPR's Aya Batrawy and Daniel Estrin called the initial attack "one of the most dramatic escalations in violence in recent memory" adding there are "concerns the chaos could spread to the occupied West Bank and different countries in the Middle East."
- This round of bloodshed began with a surprise attack by Palestinian fighters from Gaza into Israel during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. On Oct. 7, militants infiltrated Israel's border using paragliders, motorbikes and boats and fired thousands of rockets toward the country from Gaza.
NPR's Fatima Al-Kassab reported on the history of the Gaza Strip. Some key excerpts:
- The Gaza Strip is a 25-mile-long by 6-mile-wide enclave, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south.
- Gaza is one of two Palestinian territories. The other is the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
- The strip has been under a blockade by Israel and Egypt, restricting the movement of people and goods since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. Israel controls its airspace and shoreline, as well as what goods can cross Gaza's borders.
NPR's Fatma Tanis examined how we got here and what might come next in this longstanding conflict.
For anyone looking for guidance on how to talk to children about this war:
Here's the latest on a growing movement on college campuses nationwide, as students organize against Israel's war in Gaza.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit npr.org.
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