ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Israeli forces today raided one of the last working hospitals in northern Gaza, forcing patients and staff out of the facility. Parts of the hospital compound were set on fire. This comes after a monthslong assault on the hospital that has killed staff members. Israel's military says Hamas militants use the hospital as a base. Hospital officials deny that. NPR's Emily Feng is covering this from Tel Aviv. Hi, there.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.
SHAPIRO: What more can you tell us about what's happening at this hospital today?
FENG: Well, this hospital had been the site of intense strikes and shelling for weeks, and staff there did not evacuate, despite Israeli orders to do so, because, as you mentioned, they were one of the last hospitals in north Gaza with intensive care units and special wards for babies and children. And so they continued to work, even when some of their medical staff were killed by Israeli strikes. But today, they finally stopped working because most of them were forced off the grounds.
Israel's military said in a statement that the hospital was a Hamas terrorist stronghold and was a hideout for their operatives, which is why they shut it down. They said the hospital's patients were transferred to another hospital, even though north Gaza's two other hospitals are basically not functioning anymore because people there tell us they've been destroyed by other Israeli strikes.
And I have to say, there's a lot we still don't know about what's happened to some of the staff who - and the director, actually, at the hospital, who nurses there say was not immediately allowed to leave. NPR tried to contact the staff and the hospital director, but the cell and internet services at the hospital have been cut off today, and the Palestinian health ministry does say some of the hospital has been burned down.
SHAPIRO: And it's not possible for journalists to enter Gaza and see what is happening for themselves.
FENG: No. Israel's military has closed off Gaza if you're on the outside. And even if you are in Gaza, the roads to north Gaza, where this hospital are, have been destroyed. I did get within about half a mile to Gaza from Israel's border last night, and it was close enough that we could hear the bombing in north Gaza. And I was there because I was following a group of Jewish activists who were trying to break past their own military, enter Gaza and build settlements there.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTIVISTS: (Singing in non-English language).
FENG: They'd even brought a few trailer homes with them, and you can hear there was this party, carnival-like atmosphere. They did not make it to Gaza, I can confirm. But what they're doing is they're trying to mainstream this once-fringe idea that Jewish Israelis should live in and take over Gaza. These activists are called settlers in Israel, and here's one of them, named Arel Kadush. And I asked him, well, what about the 2 million or so Palestinians who already live in Gaza and were told this would be their land?
AREL KADUSH: We don't want them. So I just - we make a small city or big city in Egypt. We need to push - army push to make them out from the Gaza.
FENG: As in push all Palestinians out as refugees to Egypt or surrounding countries - this would be illegal by international law, but it is an idea that's gathered support from some elected Israeli politicians.
SHAPIRO: You said these settlers are trying to mainstream what was once a fringe idea. How much popular support do they have within Israel?
FENG: They are a minority. Depending on the poll you look at, around one-fourth to one-third of Israeli citizens support settling Gaza. But there were many counterprotesters at this place that I went to yesterday. You know, these are Israelis who oppose settling Gaza, like Tomer Persico, who was trying to block these settlers.
TOMER PERSICO: They believe what they are doing is a fulfillment of Zionism, and I believe it's a subversion and a twisted version, a mutation of Zionism.
FENG: He said he was a proud Israeli patriot, but he believed Israel should exist only within its borders, not in Gaza. That being said, he's pessimistic about ultimately stopping these settlers because he notes they have powerful politicians backing them, like Israel's finance minister and their national security minister.
SHAPIRO: That's NPR's Emily Feng reporting from Tel Aviv. Thank you.
FENG: Thank you, Ari. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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