| Nasser Hospital siege | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the siege of Khan Yunis during the Gaza war and genocide | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 16 killed, ~200 surrendered (per Israel)[7][8] | ||||||
| up to 21 civilians killed[9][10][11][12][13][14] | |||||||
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During the Gaza 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. However, in 2025, the hospital resumed medical services.[15][16][17]
The Nasser Hospital was attacked multiple times during the Israel-Hamas War prior to the start of the siege. An Israeli shooting at the maternity ward of the hospital on 17 December 2023 killed a girl and wounded three others.[18] The girl was a 13-year-old amputee, Donia Abu Mohsen, who had survived a previous Israeli airstrike that had killed her entire family.[19][20] In late-December 2023, Richard Peeperkorn, a World Health Organization representative, stated 4,000 displaced internally displaced people were at risk as the Israeli military pursued operations at the hospital.[21]NBC News had been following a doctor in the hospital since December 2023 and documenting his work with the patients.[22] By the end of January 2024, there were only five physicians left in the hospital, with the others having fled or been killed.[23] A doctor at the hospital told reporters that the hospital was filled with patients and the staff were overworked, stating "We cannot make rounds on patients. We cannot move between beds."[24]
According to the IDF's chief spokesperson Rear AdmiralDaniel Hagari, the determination to raid the facility was based on interrogations of militants who had been arrested or surrendered in the area, and freed hostages. The information reportedly led the IDF to believe that Israeli hostages had been previously held in the facility.[25] During a CNN interview in mid-January, a released hostage, Sharon Aloni Cunio, had raised allegations that she, her children and dozens of other hostages were held in the hospital. However, CNN had been unable to independently verify this and Hamas quickly issued a denial.[26] On 14 February, the IDF stated that Nasser was being used to hold Israeli hostages.[27][28]
In early 2024, as Israeli forces advanced deeper south, bombardment of the areas around the Nasser Hospital intensified. This sparked worries that the hospital may be forced to shut down.[29] A doctor at Nasser stated that the hospital was surrounded by Israeli tanks, bulldozers, quadcopters, and snipers.[30] On 26 January 2024, the Health Ministry stated Nasser hospital was out of food, anesthetics, and painkillers due to an Israeli siege, stating, "There are 150 health personnel, 350 patients, and hundreds of displaced families in the Nasser Medical Complex in catastrophic conditions of starvation, targeting, and lack of treatment".[31] On 27 January, Al Jazeera journalist Hani Mahmoud stated people at Nasser were experiencing "exactly what happened ... when the largest facilities like al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital came under attack."[32] Since late January 2024 the hospital had been unable to send patients to other hospitals due to lack of resources, causing some doctors in the hospital to use WhatsApp to ask specialists for information.[33]
2月7日、40歳の女性が病院の外でイスラエル軍の狙撃兵に殺害された。[ 10 ] 2月8日、医師が手術室で作業中に銃撃され負傷した。[ 34 ]同日、ドローン攻撃で1人が死亡、数人が負傷した。[ 35 ]救急隊員はイスラエル軍の狙撃兵のせいで病院から出られなかった。[ 36 ] 2月9日、病院の外にいたイスラエル軍の狙撃兵は「動くものすべて」を狙撃していた。[ 37 ]病院にたどり着こうとしていた21人が死亡した。[ 12 ]録画されオンラインで拡散された事件には、病院の門でイスラエル軍の狙撃兵に負傷した若い男性を救うために医師が命を危険にさらす様子が映っていた。[ 30 ] [ 38 ]国境なき医師団は2月10日、イスラエル軍が病院内の人々に発砲していると述べた。[ 39 ] [ 40 ] 2月11日、イスラエル軍の狙撃兵により病院敷地内で男性が殺害された。[ 13 ] 2月12日、イスラエル軍の狙撃兵により病院にいた7人が殺害された。[ 14 ]
イスラエル軍は2024年3月24日に再び病院を包囲した。[ 41 ]パレスチナ赤新月社は「非常に激しい砲撃」を報告した。[ 42 ]目撃者は絨毯爆撃があったと報告し、病院周辺の土地は「地震のように揺れていた」と述べた。[ 43 ] 3月26日、ガザ保健省は「病院襲撃の準備として」病院周辺で「暴力的な襲撃」があったと報告した。[ 44 ] 3月27日、イスラエル国防軍が病院を襲撃し、数人が死亡または負傷した。また、病院に避難していた医療スタッフや民間人の一部が逮捕された。[ 45 ]イスラエル国防軍は4月7日に病院から撤退した。[ 46 ]
On 13 February, the IDF ordered displaced people inside the complex to evacuate the hospital.[47][48] The same day, snipers killed three people at the hospital,[49] with the Gaza Health Ministry stating "The displaced people are being shot while they are leaving, and people are being killed or injured".[50] A pharmacist who worked in the hospital spoke of the evacuation to BBC Arabic and claimed that as soon as she had left the hospital and reached a checkpoint, the entire facility was swarmed by military dogs and many people were arrested at the checkpoint.[25] According to a surgeon in the facility at least eight people who were attempting to evacuate that day came under gunfire, and among those injured was a 16-year-old boy who was shot at least four times at the hospitals gate.[51]
Because the hospital had run out of fuel for its generator, sewage flooded parts of the hospital.[52]UNOCHA reported bodies of killed people had been laying outside the hospital for several days because of the danger of Israeli snipers;[53] Israeli soldiers continued to fire on the facility on 14 February.[54] A civilian claimed that many of those who had attempted to leave on 14 February were shot at and forced to return to the hospital, stating the IDF had promised safe passage but when he attempted to leave he was approached and held by IDF troops in a bulldozer and tank for four hours.[55] The Health Ministry reported there were 273 patients unable to move and 327 companions remaining in the hospital.[56] A doctor at the facility told colleagues in the United Kingdom that all those in the hospital were living with fear and anxiety while trying to evacuate those sheltering in the hospital. He stated many civilians had been shot by Israeli snipers, with the majority being inside the hospitals grounds.[55]
According to The Intercept, Israeli soldiers forced a young Palestinian man, handcuffed by zip-ties, to warn the displaced people to evacuate the hospital, and then shot and killed the young man after he had delivered the message.[57] Meanwhile, the IDF set up facial recognition cameras to scan individuals who evacuated the hospital.[58] The IDF destroyed the hospital's northern exit gate and blocked it with sand and debris.[59]Doctors Without Borders stated the evacuation gave displaced people the choice between staying to "become a potential target" or fleeing "into an apocalyptic landscape".[60][25] The IDF gave people until 7am on 15 February to evacuate the hospital, while firing inside the hospital with snipers and tank fire.[61][62] An IDF spokesman stated that there was no obligation to evacuate and the IDF was "in communication" with hospital staff.[55]
Israeli soldiers entered Nasser Hospital on 15 February 2024.[63] The soldiers entered from the south; according to a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry they destroyed tents and bulldozed a mass grave.[64][51] Israel stated it examined some 400 corpses looking for Israeli hostages.[65][b] A survivor of the raid stated, "They destroyed the walls surrounding us as well as the doctor’s room. They ordered us to leave and fired at us, fired bombs and rockets on our heads from the top".[67] Verified footage from the raid showed Israeli tanks entering the hospital grounds.[68] Israeli forces raided the maternity ward and destroyed two ambulances; one Doctors Without Borders staff member went missing, and Al Jazeera reported civilians were attacked both inside the hospital and outside as they tried to flee.[69][70] After passing an Israeli checkpoint, displaced people and patients evacuating the hospital were shot and wounded by an Israeli quadcopter.[71] Mass arrests were reported, and attack drones were reportedly used to follow and shoot at children.[72] According to Al Jazeera English, witnesses reported that "the Israeli military rounded up people from inside the facility, blindfolded them with their hands tied behind their backs, and killed them either by the use of quadcopters or sniper fire."[73]
IDF soldiers reportedly forced all male patients who were able to move and any companions to evacuate to the maternity building, which was converted to an IDF military barracks.[24] The Gaza Health Ministry stated that 95 medics, 191 patients, and 165 displaced people were being held in a single building.[74]
Doctors Without Borders called for an immediate end to the raid, stating the military had created "a chaotic situation, with an undetermined number of people killed and injured".[75] Following the raid, the IDF stated there was no evidence hostages had been held at Nasser.[76][c] Later on, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit stated that it found weapons, including grenades, boxes of medications bearing the names of Israeli hostages,[78] vehicles used by Hamas members who participated in the October 7 attacks and Israeli-owned cars stolen during the massacre.[79] Along with the accusations of weapons found by the IDF, a low-resolution photograph of the alleged weapons was released, however news agencies such as CNN were unable to independently verify when and where the photo was taken.[24] According to the IDF, alleged "Hamas members" who were reportedly posing as medical staff were arrested.[79] On 20 February, the IDF stated its operation was "nearing completion".[80]
On 22 February, after first withdrawing but continuing to guard the hospital grounds, soldiers reportedly entered the hospital again.[81] The Gaza Health Ministry reported that dozens of medical personnel remained under arrest.[82] Eyewitnesses on 23 February stated that Israeli forces continued to surround the hospital, repeatedly shelling it.[83] The IDF declared that its operations had ended on 25 February and partially withdrew from the hospital.[84][85] The following day, however, reports continued of Israeli snipers "shooting at anything moving" in the vicinity of the hospital.[86] On 28 February, one of the hospital buildings caught on fire after being hit by an Israeli artillery shell.[87]
UNICEF stated on 19 March that the hospital was no longer functioning, with no one inside the building.[2]
However, in 2025 the hospital has resumed medical services.[88][89][90]
Five critically wounded patients died due to a lack of oxygen resulting from Israel's siege of the hospital.[91] Following the raid, medical personnel, patients, and displaced people were detained in the hospital's maternity ward, where they underwent "interrogation in harsh and inhumane conditions".[92] A World Health Organization (WHO) convoy was prevented from reaching the hospital with basic supplies, including food and water, on 16 February.[93] WHO stated, "We are trying to get access because people who are still in Nasser Medical Complex need assistance."[94] The director of the hospital stated, "We were forced to transfer all the patients and the wounded to the hospital's old building ... Electric power was cut off from the entire medical complex ... We stand helpless, unable to provide any form of medical assistance to the patients inside the hospital".[95]
On 16 February the Gaza Health Ministry stated that the entire hospital was without electricity, water, food and heating.[24] The ministry also stated that a "large number" of the hospital's staff had been arrested.[96] The IDF stated they had arrested 100 people.[97] On 18 February, the World Health Organization assisted with evacuating 14 patients, with two that needed continuous manual ventilation, after being denied entry into the hospital for two days.[98][78] The same day, the hospital was reported to be "completely out of service",[99][100] while Israel denied this, claiming that the hospital had received humanitarian aid including a generator, food, water and fuel.[78] The health ministry stated 25 hospital staff and 136 patients had no access to electricity, water, food, or oxygen.[101] 18 additional patients were evacuated on 19 February.[102]
On 20 February, Doctors Without Borders reported they had lost contact with their medical team at Nasser and called for the hospital's remaining 130 patients to be evacuated.[103] WHO evacuated an additional 32 patients in critical condition.[104] Citing the Gaza Health Ministry, UNOCHA reported that 70 medical personnel had been arrested.[105] On 21 February, doctors at Nasser described the situation there as "unbearable", lacking oxygen, water, or medical supplies, as raw sewage flooded the radiology department.[106] 21 additional patients were evacuated by the Palestinian Red Crescent.[107] On 22 February, medics at the hospital stated they had buried a total of thirteen patients who had died due to a lack of oxygen.[108] The Palestinian Red Crescent evacuated an additional 18 patients on 23 February.[109] On 27 February, two days after the IDF declared an end to the hospital siege, the Gaza Health Ministry stated the hospital was completely out of service, with ventilators shut down, water cut off, and sewage overflowing.[110]
The IDF rebuffed allegations that they intentionally damaged the hospital's operating systems, instead claiming that the power outage was caused by a generator malfunction, and all vital systems had remained functional due to a backup power source. The IDF also stated that it had provided the hospital an alternative generator, food for infants, water and diesel fuel after the attack.[24] The IDF's claims were contradicted by World Health Organization secretary-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who stated, "The hospital is still experiencing an acute shortage of food, basic medical supplies, and oxygen. There is no tap water and no electricity".[111]
Colleagues of those working in the hospital issued a statement through Healthcare Workers Watch - Palestine, Gaza Medic Voices, and Health Workers 4 Palestine highlighting their concern that the IDF had kidnapped one of the surgeons who had been posting about the siege and raid, after he had been out of communication for days.[33]
CNNは、医師たちが下着姿にさせられたと報じ、「食料と水を持ってこなければ、私たちは死んでしまう」という目撃証言を引用した。[ 112 ] 2024年3月12日、BBCは、病院の医療スタッフがイスラエル国防軍に「屈辱を与え、殴打され、冷水をかけられ、何時間も不快な姿勢でひざまずかされた」と主張する報道を発表した。この報道には、イスラエル軍が数人の男性を拘束し、医療用ローブを脱がせて下着姿にさせ、病院の外でひざまずかせた映像も含まれていた。[ 113 ]
2024年4月下旬、イスラエル軍が同月初めに撤退した後、ガザの民間防衛隊員らは敷地内の集団墓地から約300体の遺体を掘り起こした。[ 114 ]アルジャジーラ・イングリッシュは「遺体には高齢の女性、子供、若い男性が含まれている」と報じた。[ 115 ]国連人権高等弁務官事務所の報道官は、「遺体の中には手足を縛られていたものもおり、これは当然ながら国際人権法および国際人道法の重大な違反を示している」と述べた。[ 116 ]
2024年4月の大量埋葬に関する報告に関して、イスラエル国防軍は「イスラエル国防軍がパレスチナ人の遺体を埋葬したという主張は根拠がなく、事実無根である」と述べた。イスラエル国防軍はCNNに対し、「ナセル病院周辺での作戦中、人質と行方不明者の捜索の一環として、ナセル病院周辺にパレスチナ人によって埋葬された遺体を検査した」と述べた。さらに、「検査された遺体のうち、イスラエル人人質のものではないものは、元の場所に戻された」と述べた。[ 117 ]
包囲から数日後、BBCニュースは病院敷地内で撮影された少なくとも21件の銃撃または銃撃の衝撃の映像を独自に検証し、敷地内で3人が射殺されたことを確認した。記者の質問に対し、イスラエル国防軍は、敷地内に入る前にその地域で活発な戦闘が行われており、その地域にいた特定された「テロリスト」に向けて正確な銃撃が行われたと主張した。[ 30 ]
イスラエル国防軍の襲撃に先立ち、世界保健機関(WHO)は「この病院を失うわけにはいかない…この病院は極めて重要だ」と述べていた。[ 118 ]襲撃後、ガザ・メディア・オフィスはこれを「明白な戦争犯罪」と呼び、「イスラエルの占領、国際社会、そして米国に全責任がある」と述べた。[ 119 ]国境なき医師団のクリストファー・ロックイヤー事務局長は、ナセルの状況は「混沌とし、壊滅的」だと述べた。[ 120 ] 2月16日、WHOは「多くの患者を別の建物に強制的に移送したという報告は深刻な懸念事項である」と述べた。[ 121 ]
ガザで以前活動していた英国人医師のジェームズ・スミス氏は、「これは武力紛争における行動規範の完全な無視です。患者が病院のベッドで殺されたり、病院に砲撃が直撃したり、停電で患者が殺されたりしたという報告を聞いています」と述べた。[ 122 ] [ 123 ]カナダ人医師のタレク・ルバニ氏は、「患者、医師、職員、そして病院内の難民は、逮捕、拷問、殺害の深刻な危険にさらされています」と述べた。[ 124 ]病院から避難した医師は、「世界の指導者たちに問います。目の前でこのようなジェノサイドが起こっているのを目の当たりにしながら、何もせず、ただ沈黙しているのですか?」と述べた。 [ 125 ]
2月21日、UNOCHAの高官は「廊下には遺体がある。患者たちは絶望的な状況にある。ここは癒しの場ではなく、死の場となっている。これは防ぐことができた悲劇であり、起こるべきではなかった」と述べた。[ 126 ]