© WHO/Jehad Alshrafi。 An injured Palestinian man is being treated at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in January 2024.
On Thursday, airstrikes continued on Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, while Israeli forces entered the largest hospital in the south that day to carry out military operations. There are growing fears that the densely populated border city could be invaded on the ground.
The Israeli military confirmed on Twitter on Thursday that its special forces had carried out what it called a "precise and limited operation" at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, which is currently the largest functioning medical facility in southern Gaza.
In a tweet on Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed alarm at the increasingly dire situation at Nasser Hospital.
"Access to the hospital is still blocked – there are no safe corridors for those in need," he said. In the past four days, WHO has tried to reach the hospital twice, but has been blocked. We lost contact with the hospital staff."
He called on all combatants to ensure the safety of hospitals and stressed that hospitals must be safe spaces for civilians.
Rafah is in a critical situation
The latest update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted a "population movement" from the southern border city to the Deirbara and Nuserrat refugee camps.
Earlier this week, the World Food Programme (WFP) expressed concern that further displacement in the densely populated city on the border with Egypt could exacerbate the plight of people seeking asylum there.
Matthew Hollingworth, the World Food Programme's Palestinian director, said the streets of Rafah were "packed with groups of people," noting that every available space in the city had become a makeshift shelter.
Rafah is currently home to about 1.5 million Gazans displaced by the conflict.
In a video posted on the social media platform X on Thursday, Hollingworth stressed that desperation pervades Rafah as people struggle to get aid, fuel and food in "wet, cold and miserable" conditions.
While WFP continues to provide assistance to Gazans in Rafah, organizations such as Action Against Hunger, which works alongside United Nations humanitarian personnel, have warned that they will have to suspend their assistance activities if Israeli ground operations are extended to Rafah.
At the same time, Israel continues to bombard Gaza, causing more civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.
The death toll rose further
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that at least 28,576 Palestinians have died and 68,291 injured since October 7, 2023. On February 13-14 alone, 103 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured.
Since the start of the ground operation, the Israeli military has killed 230 soldiers and injured 1,352. More than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed and 250 held hostage in the October 7 Hamas attack.
According to Israeli authorities, about 134 people are still being held in Gaza.
