Nasser Medical Complex | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Location | Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Palestine |
Coordinates | 31°20′50″N34°17′35″E / 31.3471°N 34.2930°E |
Organisation | |
Funding | governmental |
History | |
Opened | 1960 |
Closed | 2024 |
The Nasser Hospital [lower-alpha 1] (or Nasser Medical Complex) was one of the largest hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
As of 18 February 2024, the hospital is no longer functional. [1] During the Israel–Hamas War, Nasser was one of the final active hospitals in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, and was one of the last functioning hospitals in all of Gaza. [2]
In 1957, during the Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian authorities built Nasser Hospital on the site of a quarantine and febrile disease hospital established by the British Mandate government in the 1940s. [3] The hospital opened its doors in 1960 and was named after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
In 1972, the hospital closed for construction to double its capacity from 112 beds. The hospital reopened in February 1974. In December 1984, the Israeli authorities closed down the hospital's orthopedic department, saying that it was contaminated, and transferred its activities to Al-Shifa Hospital. [4]
The hospital was shelled multiple times throughout the war. [5] During the war, it received significant international media coverage due to the death of a 13-year-old amputee, Donia Abu Mohsen, who had survived a previous Israeli airstrike that had killed her entire family. [5] [6] [7]
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, according to a freed hostage who claimed to be held there, the hospital was used by Hamas to hold hostages kidnapped from Israel during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. [8] [9]
In early 2024, as Israeli forces advanced deeper south, bombing in the areas around the hospital intensified. This sparked worries that the hospital may be forced to shut down. According to a report by The Guardian on the 19 January 2024:
Medical staff said the fighting had come within metres of Nasser hospital, the biggest hospital still partly working in Gaza, over the past week. It has been receiving hundreds of wounded patients every day since the fighting shifted to the south last month. There are fears it could be forced to close because of Israeli bombardments and evacuation orders. [10]
Israeli soldiers entered the hospital on 15 February 2024. [11] Due to power outages during the entry of Israeli soldiers into the hospital, five patients in the hospital died. [12] On 18 February, the World Health Organization said the hospital could no longer serve its patients, and that the hospital was no longer functional. [1] Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attributed the hospital's inability to continue operating to the Israeli siege and raid. [1]
As of 23 February, the hospital no longer had food or water and had no oxygen for patients. [13] The Gaza Health Ministry attributed thirteen patient deaths to the lack of electricity and oxygen at the hospital. [13]
In late April, a mass grave containing nearly 300 bodies was discovered following the withdrawal of Israeli forces earlier in the month, according to Gazan civil defence workers. In regards to the April 2024 reports of mass graves, the IDF has stated that any “claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded.” The IDF told CNN that during its operation “in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance to the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined.” They further stated that “Bodies examined, which did not belong to Israeli hostages, were returned to their place. [14]
Al-Shifa Hospital was the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City.
Egypt–Palestine relations are the bilateral relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Palestine. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and he favored self-determination for the Palestinians. Although the Egyptian government has maintained a good relationship with Israel since the Camp David Accords, most Egyptians strongly resent Israel, and disapprove of the close relationship between the Israeli and Egyptian governments.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
Events in 2023 in the Palestinian territories.
On 27 October 2023, Israel launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip with the stated goals to destroy Hamas, a military and political movement that led an attack on Israel earlier in the month, and to free hostages it took. The effort is ongoing. Before the invasion, dubbed Operation Swords of Iron, Israel declared war, tightened its blockade, and ordered the evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip.
During the Israel–Hamas war, the Israeli military ordered most residents of Gaza to evacuate their homes, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and contributing to a broader humanitarian crisis in the territory. It is the largest displacement of Palestinians in 75 years. Palestinians have described the evacuation as the "second Nakba."
On 3 November 2023, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and siege of Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance convoy departing from al-Shifa Hospital carrying critically injured patients. The strike killed 15 people and wounded dozens. The Palestine Red Crescent Society, which was part of the convoy, said that all 15 casualties were civilians.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Israel has carried out mass arrests and detentions of Palestinians. Thousands have been arrested in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel, based on alleged militant activity, offensive social media postings, or arbitrarily.
Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, was placed under siege by Israel in mid-November 2023 during the Israel–Hamas war, after saying it had contained a Hamas command and control center beneath it. The incident was followed by a second major raid by Israeli forces in March 2024.
Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi Hospital is a children's hospital in the Nasser neighborhood of Gaza City. It is named after Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, leader and co-founder of Hamas.
During the Israel–Hamas war, Israel and the United States stated that a vast complex existed under al-Shifa hospital that was being used by Hamas as its "main operations base", which Hamas and hospital administrators denied. Following Israel's release of video evidence on 22 November, multiple news agencies concluded that the evidence did not demonstrate the use by Hamas of a command center. The New York Times also said the evidence does not show conclusive evidence of a vast network of tunnels, while Haaretz concluded that Hamas did use the hospital for military purposes. Amnesty International said on 23 November 2023 that "Amnesty International has so far not seen any credible evidence to support Israel’s claim that al-Shifa is housing a military command centre" and that "the Israeli military has so far failed to provide credible evidence" for the allegation. Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas official, denied that the group used the hospital as a shield for its underground military structures, saying there was no truth to the claims.
The battle of Khan Yunis, which evolved into the siege of Khan Yunis in late January, began on 1 December 2023 in the midst of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
During the Israel–Hamas war, the healthcare system of Gaza was destroyed by Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities, killing of healthcare workers, and blockade of medical supplies from entering Gaza. The resulting collapse of the healthcare system was part of a broader humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip caused by the war.
The following is a list of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2024.
Israeli forces damaged or destroyed at least 16 cemeteries in the Gaza Strip during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war in various places in Gaza within Palestine, as determined by evidence gathered by CNN, the New York Times and Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
During the Israel–Hamas war, the Nasser Hospital faced multiple attacks, including a siege and raid in January and February 2024. The hospital siege by Israeli forces created severe shortages of food, anesthesia, and painkillers. Reports emerged of Israeli snipers targeting individuals outside the hospital. Despite international calls for restraint, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered the evacuation of displaced people inside the hospital on 13 February 2024. On 15 February, Israeli soldiers raided the hospital. The hospital had completely ceased functioning by March 2024.
The Nasser Hospital mass graves were discovered on 20 April 2024 by Palestinian families returning to Nasser Hospital after the withdrawal of Israeli forces following the Nasser Hospital siege, a major event in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. According to independent analysis, the graves were discovered in the same location as earlier mass burials by Palestinians.
During the Israel–Hamas war mass graves have been widely used in the Gaza Strip by Palestinians, with the courtyards of many hospitals converted.
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