The Israeli army raided a major hospital in the northern Gaza region early Wednesday morning.
Israel says it was carried out as part of a targeted operation against Hamas. The military launched the operation in certain areas of Al-Shifa Hospital based on intelligence gathered and demanded that Hamas militants inside the complex surrender. Israeli forces first raided the surgery and emergency departments.
Earlier, the Gaza Ministry of Health said that Israel had notified it of plans to raid the hospital minutes before the operation. The Israeli side emphasised that its forces included Arabic translators and medical personnel to avoid harming civilians.
The hospital, located in the centre of Gaza City, has become the focal point of the war now in its second month. Israel claims Hamas is using civilians as human shields by hiding military equipment in this and other hospitals. Hamas denies all the allegations.
Calls for a humanitarian ceasefire have echoed around the world in recent days, and the fate of Al-Shifa has become a matter of international alarm as conditions deteriorate for patients, medical staff and displaced people trapped in the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip over the past five weeks.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that the US has unspecified evidence that Hamas and other Palestinian militants are using Al-Shifa, other hospitals and tunnels beneath them to support military operations and hostage-taking. He said:
We do not support striking a hospital from the air and we don’t want to see a firefight in a hospital where innocent people, helpless people, sick people trying to get medical care they deserve are caught in the crossfire. Hospitals and patients must be protected.
Hamas said on Wednesday that the US statement effectively gave Israel the “green light” to raid the hospital. The group said Israel and US President Joe Biden were fully responsible for the operation.
Israeli troops have fought fierce street battles with Hamas militants for the past 10 days before advancing into the centre of Gaza City and encircling Al-Shifa.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the militants’ cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October. Israel says Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages in that attack.
