Israeli forces stormed Gaza’s largest hospital early Wednesday in a “precise and targeted operation against Hamas” and called on terrorists reportedly hiding under the facility to surrender.
Israel Defense Forces entered Al Shifa Hospital after warning Hamas that using the hospital to hide military operations threatened its protected status under international law.
“IDF forces include medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone special training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the aim that no danger is posed to civilians,” the army said in a statement.
“We call on all Hamas terrorists present at the hospital to surrender,” the IDF added.
Because of the hundreds of patients and medical staff inside, Israeli authorities had until Wednesday morning refrained from storming Shifa Hospital in a hunt for Hamas.
Hamas has denied it uses the hospital for cover, although US intelligence has backed up Israeli claims that the terror group has extensive tunnels under the medical centre.
Doctors struggle to save a baby at risk of death after the hospital lost power over the weekend. via REUTERS
Medical facilities in the area have been forced to shelter in place from sniper fire from nearby fighting.
The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said one of its three facilities near the hospital was locked down on Tuesday after three patients were shot from inside the building.
“In front of the main gate, there are many corpses. There are also injured patients; we cannot bring them in,” the organization said in a statement about the shooting. “These conditions are very bad, they are inhumane.”
Doctors Without Borders stated that along with its patients, their medical facility sheltered 65 children displaced by the war.
Bodies lined up at al-Shifa hospital. AFP via Getty Images Staff at Nasser hospital pray for those killed by Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday. AFP via Getty Images Children injured in another airstrike are being treated at a hospital in Deir al-Balah .AP
It is unclear who was behind the shooting, but Gaza’s health ministry has repeatedly blamed the IDF for sniper fire reported near the hospital since the facility was besieged by Israeli forces over the weekend.
The Hamas-backed Palestinian Ministry of Health said three babies were among 40 people who died since Shifa’s emergency generator ran out of fuel Saturday with 36 more at risk of death because there was no power for incubators.
“There is no more water, food, milk for children and babies… the situation in the hospital is catastrophic,” Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of the center, told CNN.
Israel said its offer to provide 300 liters of fuel to the hospital was rejected by Hamas, but Dr. Ahmed El Mokhallalati said the deal fell through because the fuel was left more than a mile from the hospital in an “active war zone,” NBC News reported.
The al-Shati refugee camp was destroyed by airstrikes on Tuesday. CNN Following the airstrikes, Israel said it had taken full control of the camp. CNN
With more than 650 patients, about 700 staff, and thousands of refugees living in al-Shifa, the hospital is experiencing the worst crisis of the war, with mass graves now being built by hand.
Doctors said that after failing to dig graves on Monday amid gunfire, staff members spent hours on Tuesday burying 180 bodies that could no longer be kept at the hospital.
Images from the medical complex on Monday showed that al-Shifa staff had run out of the traditional white blankets used to cover bodies and were now using colorful sheets to wrap bodies.
US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said on Tuesday that the US was discussing ways to allow independent third parties to carry out transfers at medical facilities in Gaza.
“We think the appropriate step is to support those transfers so that babies and other vulnerable populations are not in danger,” Miller said.
A doctor at a hospital in Deir al-Balah runs through the hallway with an injured baby. AP IDF soldiers are stationed around Gaza hospitals as military officials accuse Hamas of having bases under medical facilities. IDF smoke engulfs al-Shati and Jabalia refugee camps following Israeli airstrikes. CNN
Miller questioned whether Hamas would allow the transfer, as the terror group has been accused of using hospitals as shields in the past. Officials said that discussions are underway with Qatar and other intermediaries to help the hospital situation.
Israel has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with its leadership saying that military pressure is the key to eliminating Hamas and securing the freedom of nearly 240 people held hostage during the October 7 terror attack.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
