WATCH: Inside Nasser Hospital as Israeli forces launch an offensive
Gaza's Nasser Hospital has ceased operations following an Israeli attack, the World Health Organization said.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops entered the compound on Thursday after intelligence indicated that hostages held by Hamas were being held there.
The WHO said it was not allowed to enter the site to assess the situation.
Israel has focused its campaign against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis and has indicated it could extend south to Rafah.
“The Nasser hospital in Gaza is out of action after a week-long siege, followed by ongoing testing,” WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, X, posted on Twitter earlier.
“Yesterday and the day before, the WHO team was not allowed to enter the hospital to assess patients' conditions and critical medical needs, despite reaching the hospital premises to deliver fuel together with partners,” he said.
“There are still 200 patients in the hospital. At least 20 need to be urgently transferred to other hospitals for healthcare; medical referral is every patient's right.”
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says only four medical staff were at the hospital in an effort to care for the remaining patients.
A source at the hospital, who did not want to be named, told BBC News that 11 patients had died and several doctors had been arrested due to disruptions in electricity and oxygen supplies.
Yesterday, the Israeli army said its troops had been told to keep the hospital running and had been given food and water. Asked about the condition of the hospital this morning, an army spokesman said only that they were checking.
Fighting has been going on at the Nasser base for weeks. Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas uses hospitals and schools as bases of operations.
The Israeli military says it killed about 20 Hamas fighters in the area of the hospital and seized a large amount of weapons.
“Over the past day, dozens of terrorists were killed and large amounts of weapons were seized,” the IDF said.
At least 1,200 people were killed in an attack by Hamas-led gunmen in Israel on October 7 last year.
In response to this, the Israeli army attacked the Gaza Strip. More than 28,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 68,000 wounded since the war began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It added that at least 127 Palestinians had been killed and 205 wounded in the past 24 hours.
“Like the last few days [is] Not really very optimistic, but, as I always repeat, we will always be optimistic and always press,” Sheikh Mohammed said, addressing a gathering of world leaders at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had sent negotiators following US President Joe Biden's request, but they did not return to further discussions because Hamas' demands were “illusory”.
Hamas has blamed Israel for the lack of progress in reaching a ceasefire agreement.
Mr Netanyahu reiterated that the Israeli government is continuing its ground occupation of Gaza, occupying the Rafah area despite international pressure, with no plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians who fled there in the early days. of war.
Some 1.5 million people are in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, after Israeli forces told them to seek safety there as Hamas targets were attacked in northern, then central, Gaza.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday reiterated his opposition to the forced relocation of Palestinians in Egypt's Sinai desert.
In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, the two leaders agreed on “the need for rapid progress on the ceasefire,” according to a summary.
Mr Sisi has long maintained that an independent state is the only solution for the Palestinians.
WATCH: Tel Aviv protesters call on Netanyahu to resign
However, on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu announced that his government had voted unanimously to formally oppose what he called “unilateral recognition” of Palestinian statehood.
Such an agreement must be reached through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, he said.
“Israel completely rejects international mandates regarding a permanent agreement with the Palestinians. If an agreement is reached, it will come only through direct negotiations between the two sides without preconditions,” the government statement said.
