The sound of gunfire echoed around the paramedics, patients, and Palestinian evacuees during what they described as a terrifying and chaotic nighttime evacuation from Nasser Hospital in Gaza after it was stormed by Israeli forces. Survivors of last week's attack on Gaza's second-largest hospital recounted their perilous journey on foot through the darkness to safety, passing by scattered corpses along the way.
One doctor reported that a nurse was held at an Israeli checkpoint, stripped of his clothes, and taken away while he screamed. Dr. Ahmed Al-Maghrabi, head of the plastic surgery department, described the scene as smoke hung everywhere and people ran frantically, likening it to doomsday. Al-Maghrabi, who sheltered with his family in a refuge near the hospital where he currently works, stated that Israeli forces ordered everyone to evacuate, except for patients unable to walk and the paramedics caring for them.
Details of the military assault on Nasser Hospital gradually emerged as individuals who fled or were evacuated arrived in Rafah, the last relatively safe location in the Gaza Strip, approximately 10 kilometers from the border with Egypt. Israel described the attack as a precise operation carried out by special forces aimed at retrieving the bodies of Israeli hostages. They added that there was no coercion for patients and staff to leave, and efforts were made to ensure the hospital continued to operate.
The raid raised concerns among relief agencies, with the World Health Organization stating that the extent of the damage is "indescribable." The WHO conducted two evacuations from Nasser Hospital since Thursday but expressed concern on Tuesday about approximately 150 patients and paramedics still present as fighting continued.
After a siege, Israeli forces entered the hospital last Thursday, claiming to have arrested hundreds of armed militants hiding there, some of whom were allegedly pretending to be hospital staff. Hamas denied using the hospital, calling the Israeli allegations "lies." The Gaza Health Ministry stated that Israel detained 70 employees and volunteers working at the facility.
The World Health Organization reported that the hospital ceased operations last week following the siege and the Israeli operation, with no electricity or running water, while medical waste and garbage fostered the spread of diseases. Nasser Hospital is the largest medical facility still operational in Gaza after more than four months of war.
