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Nasser Medical Complex was the largest operating hospital in Gaza until last week. (Image source: Abed Zaqout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Israeli forces forced doctors and other health workers to leave Nasser Hospital in Gaza, strip to their underwear, and wait in the cold for hours before the army allowed five doctors to return to the building to treat patients, one witness told CNN. On Monday, the Israeli military reported that it had arrested hundreds of Hamas fighters at the hospital, including some who posed as doctors.

According to the Israeli army, they also found medicines with the names of Israeli hostages inside the hospital, and published a video of soldiers showing boxes of medicines with inscriptions and sometimes pictures on the boxes. to.

The witness spoke to CNN in a rare phone interview from the Nasser Hospital area, where there are few ways to communicate with the outside world.

The source narrated that when the Israeli army took control of the hospital last week, it broadcast a message saying: “Doctors, get out.”

When the doctors came out and ordered them to take off their clothes, they protested against the cold weather.

“Take off your clothes,” they ordered the doctors, according to the witness.

The doctors then stripped out into the cold and remained outside for several hours before Israeli forces selected five doctors to return to the compound and care for patients. The witness does not know what happened to the other doctors.

This left five doctors treating about 150 patients in the old building of the complex, the witness said.

The witness, who was inside the hospital, asked not to reveal his identity for fear of retaliation.

The source indicated that electricity was cut off from the hospital, and that patients were dying daily due to the Israeli siege of the hospital.

He also reported that the air was filled with the smell of rotting corpses. He added, “Four patients died in recent days and the forces… [israelíes] They did not allow them to take patients out of the building, and the smell was very bad.”

Food and water are scarce, he said. The witness added that when WHO officials arrived on Saturday, “we said: If you don’t bring food and water, we will die.”

The witness said that after that, the WHO brought some water and canned goods such as tuna, but no carbohydrates, such as bread or rice. “they [los pacientes] “You can't eat this without bread,” he added.

On Sunday, the World Health Organization evacuated 14 patients who needed oxygen.

Nasser Hospital was the largest operating hospital in Gaza before the Israeli army raid last week.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said on Sunday that Israeli forces arrested about 70 health workers at the medical complex, and that 80 patients were transferred from the hospital to an unknown location.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a CNN question about medical staff being forced to undress in the cold, but the account is similar to reports from other hospitals in Gaza where Israeli forces have been admitted.