The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said that it has launched a "targeted military operation" against Hamas inside al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, where thousands of Palestinians are believed to have taken shelter as the war entered its 40th day.
"IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital, based on intelligence information and an operational necessity.," the Israeli military said in a post on platform X.
Israel has previously accused Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its fighters, and that Hamas has set up its main command center in and beneath the al-Shifa hospital. Both Hamas and al-Shifa hospital staff have denied the allegations.
IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amnon Shefler said in a video message that Hamas sees ill Gazans as an opportunity to put the most vulnerable people "in the line of fire" and that the militants have embedded themselves in any civilian place and using the fuel critically needed by patients.
The hospital, which has run out of fuel and is believed to be no longer functioning, became the focus of the ongoing war as Israeli forces encircled it amid intense fighting, while doctors warned of a "catastrophic" situation for thousands of patients, staff and internally displaced people still residing there.
A doctor inside the hospital told CNN that they were given a 30-minute warning before the Israeli operation began. "We were asked to stay clear of the windows and the balconies. We can hear the armored vehicles, they are very close to the entrance of the complex," said Dr Khaled Abu Samra.
Situation at the hospital
Fighting has raged for days around the Shifa Hospital complex at the center of Gaza City which has now “turned into a cemetery,” its director said in a statement. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said that 40 patients, including three babies, have died since Shifa’s emergency generator ran out of fuel on Saturday. Another 36 babies are at risk of dying because there is no power for incubators, according to the ministry.
The Israeli military said it started an effort to transfer incubators to Shifa. But they would be useless without electricity, said Christian Lindmeier, a World Health Organization spokesman. While Israel says it is willing to allow staff and patients to evacuate, some Palestinians who have made it out say Israeli forces have fired at evacuees.
Meanwhile, the White House and the Pentagon accused Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups of storing weapons beneath the al-Shifa hospital and operating a command centre there as a way to "conceal their military operations and hold hostages", in line with Israeli claims.
Hamas slammed the statements, saying that by supporting Israel's "false narrative", the US has given it a "green light to commit more massacres against civilians". Palestinian Health Minister Dr. Mai Al-Kaila said the Israeli army raid represents, “a new crime against humanity, medical staff, and patients” and could have “catastrophic consequences” for patients and medical staff.
What is happening in Gaza?
Meanwhile, Israeli defense officials said they have agreed to allow some fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian purposes. It was the first time Israel had allowed fuel into the besieged territory since Hamas’ bloody cross-border invasion on October 7.
Inside some of the newly captured buildings, soldiers held up the Israeli flag and military flags in celebration. In a nationally televised news conference, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas had “lost control” of northern Gaza and that Israel made significant gains in Gaza City.
The IDF on Tuesday claimed that troops of the 7th Armored Brigade and Golani Infantry Brigade have captured several Hamas governmental buildings including Gaza Parliament and other crucial sites. Among the sites captured by the troops are the Hamas parliament, its government complex, and the police headquarters, Times of Israel reported citing an Army statement.
The report claimed that the heavily armed forces have also captured the governor's house in Gaza and added Hamas militants and its so-called military wing were also destroyed in the latest raid. Citing the IDF, it said that the government's house was also a depot for the Hamas intelligence division and other crucial sites used to plan a surprise attack on Israel on October 7.
More than 11,200 people, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.
Almost the whole Gaza population has been forced to squeeze into the southern two-thirds of the territory, where conditions have been deteriorating even as bombardment there continues. About 200,000 fled the north in recent days, the United Nations said Tuesday, though tens of thousands are believed to remain.
(with inputs from agencies)
ALSO READ | Israel confirms death of 19-year-old captive woman soldier shown in Hamas video
