[News] Gaza's largest functioning hospital facing disaster, medics warn, as Israel widens offensive

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A fuel shortage threatens to shut down life-saving services at Nasser hospital

Doctors have warned of an imminent disaster at Gaza's largest functioning hospital because of critical shortage of fuel and a widening Israeli ground offensive in the southern city of Khan Younis.

 

Nasser Medical Complex was forced to stop admitting patients on Thursday, when witnesses said Israeli troops and tanks advanced into a cemetery 200m (660ft) away and fired towards nearby camps for displaced families. The forces reportedly withdrew on Friday after digging up several areas.

 

Medical staff and dozens of patients in intensive care remain inside the hospital, where the fuel shortage threatens to shut down life-saving services.

 

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.However, it said on Friday morning that an armoured brigade was operating in Khan Younis to dismantle "terrorist infrastructure sites" and confiscate weapons. It has previously issued evacuation orders for the areas around the hospital.A witness told the BBC that Israeli tanks accompanied by excavators and bulldozers advanced from the south of the cemetery near Nasser hospital on Thursday.

 

The tanks fired shells and bullets as they moved into an area, which was previously farmland, and several tents belonging to displaced families were set on fire, the witness said. Video footage shared online showed a plume of dark smoke rising from the area.

 

The witness added that Israeli quadcopter drones also fired towards tents in the Namsawi Towers and al-Mawasi areas to force residents to evacuate. Another video showed dozens of people running for cover amid as gunfire rang out.

 

Medical staff inside Nasser hospital meanwhile sent messages to local journalists expressing their fear. "We are still working in the hospital. The tanks are just metres away. We are closer to death than to life," they wrote.

 

Civilians standing near the hospital's gates were reportedly injured by stray bullets.Dr Saber al-Asmar, an emergency physician at Nasser hospital, told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme on Friday that the medical staff had received no call from the Israeli military giving them advance notice of the operation or saying whether they needed to evacuate the facility.

 

"We didn't get any warning... [There was] shooting all around. We had casualties from the hospital yard," he said.

 

"[Israeli forces] invaded the area, and then through the microphone, they asked the people to leave immediately, without even to take any of their stuff around the hospital, and people started to run away under the gunshots and shelling."

 

On Friday morning, the Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of the cemetery and other areas close to the hospital.

 

Pictures shared online later in the day appeared to show deep trenches dug into the sandy ground, flattened buildings, burnt tents, and crushed vehicles piled on top of each other..

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx5zeywgrgo