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People evacuated from hospital in Khan Yunis
Photo: Mohammed Salem / REUTERS
Israeli soldiers have entered a hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari spoke of a “precise and limited deployment in the Nasser Hospital” in Khan Yunis. The aim is to recover the bodies of hostages.
According to a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, the troops stormed Nasser Hospital, destroying a wall. Numerous people had previously fled the clinic in the heavily contested area. The health authority announced that night that one patient had been killed and others injured when the clinic was shelled by Israel. The information could not initially be independently verified.
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Photo: @Mahmoud_Shammala / Instagram / REUTERS
The operation came a day after the army attempted to evacuate thousands of displaced people who had sought refuge at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. The southern city has been the main target of Israel's offensive against Hamas in recent weeks.
Israeli army suspects hostage bodies on hospital grounds
"We have credible intelligence information that Hamas is holding hostages in Nasser Hospital," the army said. "Terrorists apparently also operated from the hospital." It is assumed that the bodies of hostages could be on the clinic's premises. The operation with special forces had been prepared for a long time. There is no need to evacuate the hospital. This information cannot initially be independently verified.
There are currently 134 people in the hands of Hamas, but according to Israeli estimates, at least 30 of them are no longer alive. Negotiations in Cairo to release more hostages in return for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of Palestinian prisoners have so far failed to produce a breakthrough. On Monday night, Israeli special forces rescued two hostages aged 60 and 70 from Hamas in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
eru/dpa/AP