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Israeli forces have turned the besieged Nasser Hospital complex into a “military site” after storming the facility and bulldozing mass graves and tents belonging to displaced civilians, Gaza's Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
“The Israeli military has asked everybody to go to the first and oldest building in the complex. They've asked them clear out the third and fourth floors of the new building, where the operating rooms are,” Medhat Abbas, the ministry's director general, told The National.
All patients at the hospital in the city of Khan Younis have been ordered to leave, including those in the intensive care unit, babies, and six people on respirators, the ministry's spokesman, Dr Ashraf Al Qudra, said in a statement.
Dr Al Qudra said oxygen tanks have been destroyed in the Israeli attacks on the hospital and its vicinity, causing leaks and a shortage of supply.
Israeli forces are forcing hospital authorities to “keep intensive care patients without medical staff, which puts their lives in extreme danger”, Dr Al Qudra added.
“The Israeli occupation has raided Nasser Hospital complex and turned it into a military site after destroying its southern fence and breaking through it,” he said.
Dr Al Qudra said the army targeted the ambulance headquarters and the tents of the displaced, and bulldozed the mass graves inside the complex.
On Thursday afternoon, Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed a “mission” was under way at Nasser Hospital to “find and return the bodies of hostages”.
The Israeli military had claimed it would provide safe passage for displaced people to leave the hospital, while patients and medical staff were ordered to remain at the facility.
But the Health Ministry said that at least 11 people at the hospital have been killed by Israeli forces over the past week, including three who were shot dead on Wednesday.
A patient in the orthopaedic unit was among those killed, while an emergency care doctor was injured in a drone strike on the hospital's third floor, according to the ministry.
At least 1,500 displaced Palestinians who were seeking shelter at the hospital remain in the compound, alongside 180 staff members, 299 of their family members, 273 immobile patients, and 327 others accompanying them, said the Health Ministry.
“Among the patients at Nasser medical complex are 18 patients in the intensive care unit, three infants in the nursery and 35 kidney dialysis patients,” added Dr Al Qudra.
Videos circulating online showed large crowds of people walking out of the hospital, while others in wheelchairs were also seen being forced to leave the facility.
Nasser Hospital is the largest hospital in southern Gaza and the latest medical centre to come under attack since the outbreak of war on October 7.
Gaza's fragile healthcare sector has been devastated, with almost all hospitals now out of service. Israeli forces have stormed several hospitals, including the enclave's largest, Al Shifa in Gaza city, based on claims that Hamas is using them as command centres.
The National's attempts to get in touch with medical staff inside the Nasser Hospital complex were unsuccessful amid communication blackouts from areas under attack by Israeli forces.
The health ministry has repeatedly warned of “extreme danger” to patients, staff and displaced Palestinians as Israel fired at the hospital and surrounding buildings, setting alight UN-run schools in the vicinity.
On Tuesday, Dr Al Qudra said that drainage pipes had been damaged in the Israeli attacks, causing sewage to seep into the facility's walls and flood the emergency department.
He called for a technical team to be deployed and allowed to move safely among the hospital's buildings.
Seven patients injured early on Thursday were already being treated for previous wounds, Dr Khaled Alser, one of the remaining surgeons at Nasser Hospital, told the Associated Press.
“The situation is escalating every hour and every minute,” he added.
With intense Israeli bombardment reported across Gaza, including on so-called safe zones, and a full-scale assault looming over the southern city of Rafah, Palestinians in Gaza say they have nowhere safe to go.
Many have fled to Rafah, where the UN has warned of “disastrous” consequences if Israel launches a full-scale offensive on a city hosting some 1.4 million people.
“People have been forced into an impossible situation,” Lisa Macheiner, of the aid group Doctors Without Borders which has staff in the hospital, told the Associated Press.
“Stay at Nasser Hospital against the Israeli military's orders and become a potential target, or exit the compound into an apocalyptic landscape where bombings and evacuation orders are a part of daily life,” she said.
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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