Fighting forces evacuation of Gaza's Najjar Hospital

(8 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PLEASE NOTE - UPDATES LOCATION FROM KHAN YOUNIS TO RAFAH++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, Gaza Strip - 7 May 2024
1. Various of abandoned, empty, wards with equipment and medical debris at the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital
2. Various of reception desk, sign reads (Arabic/English) 'Medical Staff'
3. Various of hospital rooms and wards, medical equipment
4. Various of locked Accident and Emergency entrance at hospital
STORYLINE:
Fighting between Israel and Hamas forced the evacuation of a hospital in southern Gaza as Israeli troops seized control of the vital Rafah border crossing.
Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, was one of the main medical centres receiving people wounded in airstrikes on Rafah in recent weeks.
It was not immediately clear how many patients had been moved to other facilities.
All departments of the hospital were empty by Tuesday afternoon as medical workers, as well as patients, fled amid fears that the fighting might reach the hospital.
Earlier, the White House said Israel was carrying out a limited operation in Rafah, as fears mount of a full-scale invasion of the southern city.
The looming operation threatens to widen a rift between Israel and its main backer, the United States, which says it is concerned over the fate of around 1.3 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah, most of whom fled fighting elsewhere.
The U.N. warned of a potential collapse of the flow of aid to Palestinians from the closure of Rafah and the other main crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, at a time when officials say northern Gaza is experiencing “full-blown famine.”
The Israeli foray overnight came after hours of whiplash in the now 7-month-old Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group saying Monday it accepted a cease-fire proposal that Israel insisted fell short of its own core demands.
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive - if only barely - for a deal to bring at least a pause in the war, which has killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and has devastated the Gaza Strip.
By capturing the Rafah crossing, Israel gained full control over the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since it withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, though it has long maintained a blockade of the coastal enclave in cooperation with Egypt.
Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again Monday against launching an invasion of the city after Israel ordered 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from parts of Rafah.
But Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he calls off the offensive or makes too many concessions in cease-fire talks.
AP Video shot by Mariam Daggah
AP Story Produced by Wafaa Shurafa
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