Beirut, February 12 (RHC)-- The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has strongly condemned Israeli forces’ siege of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza and the deployment of snipers around the health facility, stressing that targeting patients and medical staff in the only functioning medical complex in the besieged enclave constitutes a war crime.

The resistance group made the remarks in a statement on Saturday, after the charity organization Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said Israeli forces had trapped patients and staff inside the health facility after opening fire on them.

Hamas went on to say that Nasser Hospital has been subjected to “systematic and brutal destruction” since the beginning of Israel’s aggression on Gaza in early October, as it warned against the occupying regime’s continued violation of medical facilities protected under international law.

The resistance group further called on the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to urgently intervene to protect the hospital and its facilities from systematic targeting.  It also urged the humanitarian organizations to send medical teams to assess the catastrophic conditions of the hospital and to witness what “the Nazi occupation” military commits against patients, medical staff, and unarmed displaced people.

Earlier in the day, MSF said Israeli forces had fired on people inside the health facility, with concerns that medical staff are unable to move inside the hospital due to fears of getting shot.   "For the last 20 days, the hospital had been under siege. Footage posted online showed that Israeli forces had fired upon trying to leave the facility," MSF said. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it could not deliver food to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza despite a “serious shortage” after delays at checkpoints.  It also noted that two people were killed and five others were injured, including one nurse who was severely wounded.

"Israeli forces are continuing operations in the immediate vicinity of Nasser Hospital. Heavy fighting is trapping people inside the building and preventing anyone from entering to access care," it said.

Israel waged its brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out an unprecedented operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed over 28,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.