by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli forces made around 100 arrests at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, the largest in the Gaza Strip, local officials and the army said on Saturday, while airstrikes continue.
The army, which entered the hospital on Thursday to search for fighters, said it found weapons and killed armed men near the health facility.
“The occupying forces arrested a large number of medical personnel inside the Nasser compound, which they transformed into a military base,” said Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al -Qidra.
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Hamas has denied accusations that its fighters are using medical facilities as cover. At least two freed Israeli hostages said they had been held in Nasser.
About 10,000 people sought shelter at the hospital earlier this week, but many left either in anticipation of the Israeli raid or because of evacuation orders, Gaza’s health ministry added.
Further south, in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have sought refuge, winter cold has added to already dire conditions.
The plan to storm Rafah has sparked concern among the international community, which fears that such action could significantly worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh criticized Israel for the lack of progress in concluding a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the movement reported in a statement on Saturday.
Ismail Haniyeh added that Hamas would accept nothing less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and “lifting the unjust siege”, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in prisons. Israelis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised “total victory” over Hamas, but added Wednesday that some flexibility in the group’s position could advance negotiations toward a deal on the release of the hostages.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has devastated much of the Gaza Strip and forced almost all of its residents to leave their homes. According to Palestinian health authorities, 28,858 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, which left 1,200 dead and 253 hostages.
At least 83 people have been killed in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Friday, according to health authorities, including one person on Saturday in Rafah, an area that borders Egypt and which Israel calls Hamas’ last bastion.
Across the border, air warning sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded Saturday in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon.
(Reporting Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; French version Kate Entringer)
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