January 30, 2024 Israel-Hamas war
After surrounding the Al Amal hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza for more than a week, Israeli military vehicles have entered its compound, and they are stationed in the hospital front yard, which is crowded with thousands of displaced people, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said.
The tanks are “firing live ammunition and smoke grenades,” the aid agency said in a series of messages between 10 a.m. ET and 11 a.m. ET.
CNN is unable to verify the situation independently and has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
Earlier, Israeli forces were asking the crews and displaced people to “evacuate the building at gunpoint,” Muhammad Abu Musabih, director of Ambulance and Emergency Services at the hospital, told CNN in an audio message.
This comes after PRCS had earlier reported gunfire from Israeli tanks on Tuesday in the area, killing one displaced woman and injuring nine others. Some 8,000 displaced people and 100 staff are at the hospital and the PRCS headquarters that is adjacent to the hospital, a PRCS official told CNN.
Israeli forces “demolished the outer wall of the building and fired … smoke bombs at the displaced people and the association’s staff,” the PRCS said. “The situation is becoming more dangerous. We are extremely concerned for the safety of our crews, the wounded, the sick, and the thousands of displaced people in the building.”
What’s the situation like at two key hospitals in Khan Younis: Despite frequent shelling and strikes in the area, efforts have continued to sustain minimal operations at both Al Amal and Nasser hospitals. CNN received photographs of a tanker truck organized by the World Health Organization reaching the Nasser Medical Complex Tuesday with 24,000 liters of diesel fuel.
The situation in the larger Khan Younis city of Gaza has also worsened: The southern city was originally the place that residents of northern Gaza were asked to evacuate to. But now, with Israeli operations focused on Khan Younis, things are worsening for the already displaced people. As Israeli military issues instructions for people to leave neighborhoods in the area, journalists have told CNN there may be as many as 100,000 displaced people in UN shelters and other facilities in the area. Many are afraid to move to supposedly safer areas. Very little aid has reached these facilities in recent days because of the fighting.
