Five patients die as oxygen runs out in Gaza hospital raided by Israel
Five patients have died after power cuts at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli raid left people without oxygen, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.
Electricity was lost at the medical complex in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis after power was cut off and generators stopped working, according to the health ministry on Friday.
A further six intensive care patients and three in children’s nursery incubators could die "at any moment as a result of the cessation of their oxygen," they said.
Israeli forces stormed the main hospital in southern Gaza on Thursday, hours after their airstrikes killed a patient and wounded six others inside the complex, in what one doctor described as "continuous bombing".
The IDF said troops had found weapons inside the hospital and apprehended dozens of terror suspects, including more than 20 terrorists linked to the October 7 attack, in what they described as a "limited operation".
Israel said it had "credible intelligence” that Hamas had held hostages at the hospital and that the remains of hostages might still be inside.
The IDF said it had found mortar shells, grenades, and additional weapons belonging to Hamas in the area of the hospital.
In a statement, the IDF said it was operating "in accordance with international law against the Hamas terrorist organization, which cynically operates from within hospitals and civilian infrastructure".
Khan Younis has been the main target of Israel's offensive against Hamas in recent weeks. Israel has said it will soon expand the ground assault to Rafah on the Egypt border.
After more than four months of fighting, the war shows no sign of ending and the risk of a broader conflict grows.
Ceasefire negotiations appear to have stalled and on Friday Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against US calls for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Egypt is reportedly building a walled buffer zone on the Gaza border as Mr Netanyahu continued to signal Israel will move into the Rafah area. Overnight, 12 people were killed in Rafah in Israeli strikes, including nine members of the same family, hospital officials said.
Rafah, the southernmost city on the strip, is home to 1.4 million Palestinians who have fled Israeli airstrikes and ground offensive in the north.
Many fear that military action in the refugee tent city could spark an exodus and could result in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
More than a million Palestinian refugees are taking shelter in a massive tent city in Rafah.
Images taken by satellite show construction work near Rafah, that adjoins Gaza Strip.
US president Joe Biden cautioned the Israeli prime minister against moving forward with a military operation in Rafah without a “credible and executable plan” to protect civilians.
After speaking overnight with Mr Biden, Netanyahu wrote on X that Israel will not accept “international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.”
Writing on X on Friday, Netanyahu said Israel opposed calls for a two-state solution of the Palestinian state, claiming it would amount to a “huge reward” for the militant group Hamas following its deadly October 7 attack on Israel.
Mr Netanyahu leads a right-wing coalition that is fiercely opposed to a Palestinian state arising alongside Israel.
Two people were killed and four injured in southern Israel at a bus stop on a busy intersection by a bystander.
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