5 patients die as oxygen runs out in Gaza hospital seized by Israeli forces

Rafah: Five patients in intensive care died after their oxygen cut off in southern Gaza’s main hospital that was stormed by Israeli troops, causing chaos for hundreds of staff and wounded inside, health officials said on Friday. Troops were searching the complex where the military said it believes the remains of hostages abducted by Hamas might be located.

The raid came after troops had besieged Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis for nearly a week, with staff, patients and others inside struggling under heavy fire and dwindling supplies, including food and water. The Israeli military said Friday it had detained dozens from the facility, including some it alleged were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

Negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza, meanwhile, appear to have stalled, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday pushed back hard against the US vision for after the war particularly its calls for the creation of a Palestinian state. After speaking overnight with President Joe Biden, Netanyahu wrote on X that Israel will not accept “international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians”.

He said that if other countries unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state, it would give a “reward to terrorism”. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected creation of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive and expand it to the Gaza city of Rafah, near Egypt, until Hamas is destroyed and scores of hostages taken during the militants’ October 7 attack are freed.

In their phone call, Biden again cautioned Netanyahu against moving forward with a military operation in Rafah before coming

up with a “credible and executable plan” to ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians, the White House said.

Two Israeli airstrikes on Rafah overnight killed at least 10 people, including seven members of the same family, according to hospital officials.

With the war showing no sign of ending, the risk of a broader conflict grew as Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group had deadliest exchange of fire along the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel launched airstrikes into southern Lebanon for a second day on Thursday after killing 10 civilians and three Hezbollah fighters on Wednesday in response to a rocket attack that killed an Israeli soldier and wounded several others.

Nasser Hospital was the latest in a series of hospitals Israeli forces have besieged and stormed during the war, claiming Hamas was using them for military purposes. The assaults have gutted Gaza’s health sector as it struggles to treat a constant stream of people wounded in daily bombardments.

The military said Thursday it had “credible intelligence” that Hamas had held hostages there and that the hostages’ remains might still be inside. On Friday, the military said its troops were continuing to search the hospital but did not report finding any bodies.

It said they arrested 20 people on suspicion of participating in the October 7 attack, and that dozens were taken for questioning. It also said troops found grenades and mortar shells, and that militants had fired mortars from inside the hospital a month ago.

The claims could not be independently confirmed.

A released hostage told The Associated Press last month that she and over two dozen other captives had been held in Nasser Hospital.

As they searched, troops ordered the more than 460 staff, patients and their relatives to move into an older building in the compound that isn’t equipped to treat patients, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

Six patients were left in the ICU with no one to watch over them, along with three infants in incubators, the

ministry said.