Israeli Forces Search Gaza Hospital as Power Goes Out

Israeli special forces were combing southern Gaza’s largest hospital in search of hostages’ remains on Friday, as Gazan officials announced that a power outage at the medical center had caused the deaths of five Palestinians in the critical care unit.

While the raid has left the hospital, Nasser Medical Center, barely functional at a time when the overall health system in Gaza is struggling, the Israeli military announced that it had arrested 20 people, who it said had participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said that electric generators had cut out and that all power was lost at the hospital but did not specify the reason. The ministry said on Facebook that the Israeli military was in control of the complex, which it entered early Thursday. On Friday, the World Health Organization said it was urgently requesting access there.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Friday that during its search of the hospital, it had detained dozens of people for questioning. It also said its troops had found mortar shells and grenades belonging to Hamas in the area.

The Israeli military said later that during the search, troops had found medication bearing the names of Israeli hostages. The source of the drugs and how they were used was “being looked into,” the military said. While Israel and Hamas reached a deal last month that would allow medications to be delivered to Israeli hostages, it was unclear if any had reached the captives.

The goals of the raid on the hospital were to check intelligence that the bodies of two hostages were there, to arrest or kill Hamas militants, and to detain the family members of senior Hamas officials, said an intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under protocol.