Clearly terrified, Dr. Mohammed Harara filmed himself moving around a room in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. All around, debris from an explosion littered the floor, the air saturated with dust. "Is there anyone still inside?" repeated the doctor in this short video posted on Instagram on Thursday, February 15, against a backdrop of artillery fire. The Israeli army had just launched its assault on the largest hospital complex still in operation in the Gaza Strip. Another video shot by Palestinian journalist Mohammad Salama showed patients being evacuated in chaos, following a strike on the orthopedics department, which killed one patient. Faced with the unexpected attack, over 400 people, including 191 patients, were transferred to a wing of the hospital, without food or water, according to the local Ministry of Health.

"Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, was shelled in the early hours of this morning, despite Israeli Forces having told medical staff and patients they could remain in the facility," the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported on X, reporting an "undetermined number of people killed and injured." The Israeli military claimed to have launched their raid after gathering "credible information from various sources, including freed hostages, indicating that Hamas had held hostages" in the hospital – a claim denied by the Palestinian Islamist movement. The army hopes to find information about the hundred or so Israelis still being held hostage in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and about the remains of the 29 hostages who have since been killed there. On Thursday evening, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said they were "still searching." Only grenades had so far been found in the compound.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday condemned the "pattern of attacks by Israeli forces striking essential life-saving civilian infrastructure in Gaza, especially hospitals." Already strangled by the Israeli siege throughout the enclave and overwhelmed by the influx of dead and wounded caused by the bombardments, the Gazan health system has also been systematically targeted by the Israeli military. The strike on Nasser Hospital followed a similar pattern to the attacks inflicted on most hospitals in northern Gaza in recent months: Al-Shifa, Kamal-Adwan, Al-Awda, Al-Rantissi...

The army's strategy was to first tighten its grip and creep closer. For three weeks, the fighting had gradually moved closer to Nasser Hospital. In the week leading up to the assault, more than 20 Palestinians were killed by sniper fire in and around the hospital compound, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, based on figures from the local Ministry of Health. The body of a teenager was filmed lying near the entrance gate, with no one daring to come and get him. Then, on Tuesday, the Israeli army ordered the complete evacuation of the hospital – a call repeated the following day.

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