Israeli Forces Block WHO Medicine, Fuel for Nasser Hospital

For almost 10 hours, two trucks filled with medical supplies and much-needed fuel for generators have been stationed outside Nasser Hospital, besieged by Israeli military tanks and bulldozers. The trucks, sent by the World Health Organization, have been surrounded and prevented from moving, situated about 50 meters from the hospital's front gate. This obstruction jeopardizes the lives of hundreds of people inside, including infants in incubators and patients in the intensive care unit.

Israeli forces have arrested about 100 people at Nasser Hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis during a recent raid, according to Israeli broadcaster Kan. The hospital, Gaza's largest functioning medical facility, has been under siege for weeks, trapping hundreds of people, including patients, medical staff, and displaced Palestinians.

"Special forces are operating at Nasser Hospital based on intelligence indicating terrorist activity at the hospital," the Israeli military claimed. Hamas, however, has dismissed accusations of using the health facility for military operations as "lies."

The incursion into Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis has resulted in the deaths of at least five patients on Friday after electricity was severed and oxygen supplies were cut, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said its staff had been forced to flee as a result of the incursion.

"The Israeli forces set up a checkpoint for people as they left the compound, and one of our colleagues was arrested at this checkpoint. We call for preserving his safety and protecting his dignity," MSF added.

Israel has previously claimed that several hospitals in Gaza were used as Hamas bases. However, its evidence has fallen short since the destruction of large parts of Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital during an attack last year. This attack, described by human rights groups as "unlawful," led to the deaths of Palestinian patients and staff at the hospital, as well as some of the thousands of people who had been sheltering there.

Human Rights Watch has called for attacks on Gaza's healthcare system to be "investigated as war crimes," while South Africa has alleged at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that such attacks were evidence of "genocidal acts" committed by Israel.