Highlights: Israeli army continues its operations in the Gaza Strip. This Thursday, February 15, it notably launched an assault on the Nasser hospital in Khan Younès. The area around the hospital has been a combat zone for several days already, but this time the establishment is directly targeted. The Israeli army accuses Hamas of having held hostages there. There… There may be bodies of our hostages at Nasser, says Israeli army spokesperson. The surgical wing was emptied and nearly 200 patients transferred to the oldest building of this medical complex.

Gaza: last night, Israeli assault on the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes

The Israeli army continues its operations in the Gaza Strip. This Thursday, February 15, it notably launched an assault on the Nasser hospital in Khan Younès, in the south of the Palestinian enclave. The area around the hospital has been a combat zone for several days already, but this time the establishment is directly targeted. The Israeli army accuses Hamas of having held hostages there.

Photograph of Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, taken from Rafah this Thursday, February 15, 2024. AFP - SAID KHATIB

By: RFI Follow

With our special correspondent in Jerusalem,

Guilhem Delteil

According to witnesses inside Nasser Hospital, the assault began around 2 a.m. last night. Bombings which would have caused victims among the patients. Still in the dead of night, the

Israeli

army then ordered the evacuation of several of them.

According to the Gaza

Ministry of Health

, the surgical wing was emptied and nearly 200 patients transferred to the oldest building of this medical complex. Images on social media show beds one after another in the corridors of the building.

An injured person is treated amid unrest at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this screenshot obtained from a social media video posted on February 15, 2024. via REUTERS - @MOHAMMEDHARAR2 VIA INSTAGRAM

In a press release, the Israeli army affirmed that it was a “

precise and limited

” operation. Its spokesperson denies that an evacuation of patients and medical personnel was ordered, and justifies the operation with information that he considers "

credible

", indicating that Hamas would have held hostages within the confines of this complex. medical. This information was obtained in particular from ex-hostages, he said.

The army does not mention any evidence of the presence of some of the Israeli captives still alive. But “

there may be bodies of our hostages at Nasser hospital

,” said his spokesperson.

Palestinian patients arrive in Rafah after being evacuated from the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis due to the Israeli ground operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 15, 2024. REUTERS - MOHAMMED SALEM

Also read: Israel: strong hostility from the far right to the draft peace plan which would provide for a Palestinian state

Gaza: last night, Israeli assault on the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes

Gaza: last night, Israeli assault on the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes

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