President Biden defended Israel’s raid on Gaza’s main hospital on Wednesday, repeating Israeli claims that Hamas had used the medical facility as a control center to plan its attacks.
“You have a situation where the first war crime was committed by Hamas by putting their headquarters, their army, hidden under a hospital,” Biden said. “And that’s a fact.”
Israeli forces forced their way into Al Shifa hospital – which had no power, oxygen, water or anesthesia, according to the BBC – in the early hours of the morning and went into rooms to search for terrorists, weapons, plans or other evidence pointing to Hamas. the group uses the facility as its military headquarters.
The IDF said it carried out its raids “based on intelligence information and operational requirements.” It shared videos and photos it said showed automatic weapons, grenades and ammunition it said belonged to Hamas fighters stored in one of the hospital buildings.
Biden said he fully believed Israel’s claims.
President Joe Biden said he fully supports Israel’s raid on Gaza’s main hospital and believes their claims. AP Medics view damage to a ward inside Al Shifa hospital following an Israeli raid, amid ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza on November 15, 2023. via REUTERS
“One thing that has been established is that Hamas has headquarters, weapons, materials under this hospital and I suspect others,” he said.
The President said a limited number of Israeli soldiers armed with weapons entered Al Shifa and also brought in medical supplies including incubators for newborn babies.
“Israel is not coming in with large numbers of troops, not invading, not rushing down,” Biden told reporters at an unrelated news conference Wednesday.
An Israeli official shows what he described as weapons found at the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid Israeli military ground operations against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City, November 15, 2023. via REUTERS
“They were told… we discussed the need for them to be careful,” he added.
Hamas has denied operating in Al Shifa and accused Israel of planting weapons at the facility.
“The occupation forces are still lying … because they brought some weapons, clothes and equipment and put them in the hospital in a shameful way,” said Qatar-based senior Hamas member Ezzat El Rashq. “We have repeatedly called committees from the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Red Cross to confirm the lies of the occupation.”
Israeli soldiers walk in the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, during what they said was a delivery of humanitarian aid to the facility in Gaza City, November 15, 2023. via REUTERS
Hospitals are protected from attack during wartime under international humanitarian law. However, they could lose that protection if parties use the facility to launch attacks or protect military objectives, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
However, the Israeli raid on the hospital raised concerns from humanitarian groups.
The World Health Organization warned that Israel’s continued order to evacuate Al Shifa and other hospitals “is a death sentence for the sick and wounded.”
A man walks inside the premises of Al Shifa hospital during an Israeli ground operation around the hospital in Gaza City November 12, 2023. via REUTERS
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was “shocked” by reports of the Al Shifa military raid.
“The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all members of the public must trump all other concerns,” he wrote in X. “Hospitals are not battlefields.”
Gaza hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients injured by Israeli airstrikes since the Jewish state began its offensive following a Hamas attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 Israelis.
Weapons and equipment, which the Israeli military said were found in the Al Shifa hospital complex in the Gaza Strip, are seen in this screenshot from a video released by the Israel Defense Forces on November 15, 2023. via REUTERS
Airstrikes since then have killed about 11,500 Palestinians – 40% of them children – according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
Israel has rejected growing calls for a cease-fire and the Biden administration has pledged continued support — even though 68% of Americans say Israel should issue a cease-fire, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Biden, on Wednesday, said the war will only stop “when Hamas no longer maintains the capacity to kill and abuse and just horrible things to Israel.”
“Hamas has already said publicly that they plan to attack Israel again, as they have done before — cutting off the heads of babies and burning women and children alive,” he added. “So the idea that they’re just going to stop and do nothing is unrealistic.”
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
