ISRAEL’s military claims it has captured “dozens” of suspects during a raid on southern Gaza’s main hospital, as staff and patients were forced to flee under gunfire.
Israel said it launched a “precise and limited mission” at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, adding it had intelligence that Hamas had held hostages there.
Hamas dismissed the claim as “lies”.
The hospital’s director told the BBC that conditions inside were “catastrophic and very dangerous”.
However, he said Israeli special forces involved in the hospital raid had yet to find any evidence of kidnapped Israelis and that the search was continuing.
His comments came hours after images, verified by the BBC, showed medical staff rushing patients on stretchers through a corridor filled with smoke or dust.
One patient – who is still in their bed – can be seen being moved through a corridor where the ceiling is damaged.
Other patients can also be seen, including one person being carried away in what looks like a blanket.
In another clip, people can be seen placing furniture and other items against a door as a narrator states in English that Israeli forces are about to enter.
A nurse inside the hospital told the BBC that a “large number of dogs” had been released inside the hospital during the operation.
Nahed Abu-Teima the director of Nasser, told BBC Arabic that there had been “violent shelling and severe explosions” for several hours “in the vicinity of the complex”.
He said the patients who had remained at the facility were “piled up in wards” with critical injuries and appealed to the UN and Red Cross to “save” them and the staff.
Nasser is one of the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza, and has been the scene of intense fighting between the IDF and Hamas for days.