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Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of Gaza’s last functioning large hospitals, denounced Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, after the aid group said it was suspending most services at the facility because of security breaches involving armed men inside the compound. MSF said the suspension applied to all “noncritical medical operations” and began after it reported an increase in patients and staff seeing armed men in parts of the hospital since the U.S.-brokered October ceasefire. Nasser Hospital responded that the armed presence came from a civilian police force meant to protect patients and staff, and said MSF’s accusations were incorrect and posed a risk to what it described as a protected medical facility.
The dispute came as the Palestinian death toll since the ceasefire surpassed 600, according to the same report. In the last 24 hours, hospitals said at least 11 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across Gaza. The friction between two prominent health care providers in Gaza marked a rare public clash over how security and armed actors affect access to care during the war.
MSF said in a statement Saturday that security breaches at Nasser Hospital posed “serious” threats to its teams and patients. The organization said it suspended noncritical services because it had documented a rise in the number of armed men seen in areas of the facility after the October ceasefire, which was reached following a U.S.-brokered deal. MSF also described reporting “a pattern of unacceptable acts,” including the presence of armed men, intimidation, arbitrary arrests of patients, and what it said was a recent situation raising suspicion about the movement of weapons.
Nasser Hospital disputed those claims on Sunday, saying the increase in armed men was due to civilian police deployed to secure the facility. The hospital said MSF’s allegations were “factually incorrect, irresponsible and pose a serious risk to a protected civilian medical facility.” The hospital’s staff and management said the armed presence reflects repeated attacks on the hospital in recent months by masked, armed men and militias, describing why an armed civilian police force is crucial.
The report said hundreds of patients and war-wounded have been treated daily at Nasser Hospital. It also said the facility served as a hub for Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages as part of the current ceasefire deal. The hospital’s location is in an area of Gaza not under Israeli control, where Hamas remains the dominant force, the report said, while other armed groups have also grown in number during the war.
Israel’s military disputed that framework, saying it had intelligence that Nasser Hospital was being used as a headquarters and military post for senior Hamas officials, without providing evidence. The military called MSF’s move “an important decision, but one that comes too late.” During the war that began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has repeatedly struck hospitals including Nasser Hospital, accusing Hamas of operating in or around them, according to the report.
In parallel with the hospital dispute, Gaza hospital authorities said Israeli fire killed at least 11 Palestinians on Sunday. The dead included five men in their 20s in eastern Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, and the strike hit a group of people close to the Yellow Line that separates Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza, the hospital said. Rami Shaqra said his son, al-Baraa, was among the men killed while they were securing the area, and he said they were hit by an airstrike.
The report cited Associated Press footage from the morgue that showed at least two of the men had headbands denoting membership in the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s militant arm. In northern Gaza, the report said a drone strike hit a group of people in the Falluja area of Jabaliya refugee camp, killing five people, according to Shifa Hospital. It also said a separate drone strike killed a man in Gaza City, according to the hospital.
Israel’s military said the strikes were carried out in response to several ceasefire violations near the Yellow Line, including militants attempting to hide in debris and others who attempted to cross while armed. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect Oct. 10 was intended to halt more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas, the report said, with fighting easing but Israeli fire continuing almost daily.
Beyond Gaza, the report also described violence involving ultra-Orthodox protesters in Israel. It said two female Israeli soldiers were rescued from riots in Bnei Brak, with footage showing the soldiers being hurried away by police from thousands of ultra-Orthodox men running after them and yelling. Israeli police said the soldiers were performing a welfare visit but had not coordinated it with police, and said at least 22 people were arrested as protesters set police motorcycles on fire, attacked officers, threw trash, and overturned a police car.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemned the attack on the soldiers but blamed an “extremist minority” for the violence, the report said. The report added that roughly 1.3 million ultra-Orthodox Jews make up about 13% of Israel’s population and oppose enlistment because they believe studying full time in religious seminaries is their most important duty, a stance that has contributed to protests and a deep divide during the war in Gaza.