Hostages in the compound?

Israeli troops enter hospital

Israeli armed forces (archive photo)(Bild: APA/AFP/Israeli Army)

Israeli forces entered a hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Thursday. "We have credible intelligence information that Hamas was holding hostages in Nasser Hospital," the army announced. Terrorists had apparently also operated from the facility.

Israel's army spokesman spoke of a "precise and limited operation in Nasser Hospital" in Khan Younis. The aim was to recover the bodies of hostages. The operation had been prepared for a long time with special forces. The hospital did not have to be evacuated. The Palestinian health authority reported that one patient had been killed and others injured in the shelling. The troops are said to have stormed the hospital and destroyed a wall in the process.

Civilians fleeing from Khan Younis(Bild: AP)

Negotiations on ceasefire in Cairo
The information could not initially be independently verified. There are currently 134 people still held by Hamas, of whom Israel estimates that at least 30 are no longer alive. Negotiations in Cairo on the release of further hostages in return for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of Palestinian prisoners have so far failed to produce a breakthrough. On Monday night, Israeli special forces freed two hostages aged 60 and 70 in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Mass exodus to Egypt?
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to present plans for an offensive in Rafah. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths now fears a mass exodus of civilians to Egypt. That the people in the south of the Gaza Strip could be brought to a safe place is an "illusion."