By Hosni Nadim
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army on Wednesday forced thousands of Palestinians who were seeking refuge in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern the Gaza Strip, to leave.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu reporter that the Israeli army ordered the displaced people to leave the hospital under the Israeli soldiers' fire.
The army ordered the displaced people to leave the hospital in one queue and head toward the eastern areas of Khan Younis.
The military vehicles continue to besiege the hospital, while the army's bulldozers are destroying the hospital's walls in preparation for storming inside, the eyewitnesses added.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said several Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army while trying to exit the Nasser hospital.
Since Jan. 22, the Khan Younis city has seen an Israeli massive ground invasion, forcing tens of thousands of the city's residents to flee their areas under heavy Israeli bombing.
On Sunday, the head of the World Health Organization said the organization was deeply concerned about the situation in and around the Nasser hospital in the Gaza Strip, which has been surrounded by Israeli forces.
"We’re deeply concerned about the safety of patients and health personnel due to the intensifying hostilities in the vicinity of the hospital. We repeat: health MUST be protected at all times," Tedros Ghebreyesus said on X, reiterating his call for a cease-fire.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing at least 28,576 people and injuring 68,291 others. Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the initial Hamas attack.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara