The Israeli navy stated on Monday that it was conducting a “high-precision” operation at Al-Shifa Hospital, claiming that senior Hamas officers had regrouped on the medical facility, which is Gaza’s largest and has been a flashpoint of the battle.
In a video address posted to social media at about 3:30 a.m. native time on Monday, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli navy’s chief spokesman, stated the navy was within the means of conducting a raid in “restricted areas” of the hospital complicated, which is in northern Gaza.
The Israeli navy stated on its Telegram account that in the course of the operation, Hamas fighters shot at its troopers from throughout the complicated and troopers returned fireplace. The Well being Ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, stated Israeli forces had fired missiles on the complicated and shot into surgical procedure rooms. Neither the ministry’s claims nor the Israeli navy’s might be independently verified.
The hospital and the encompassing space home about 30,000 sufferers, medical staff and displaced civilians, and various folks have been killed and wounded, the well being ministry stated. It added {that a} fireplace had damaged out on the gate of the complicated, which prompted some folks to suffocate and made it troublesome to succeed in those that have been injured.
By noon the raid was persevering with, and 15 Israeli tanks and several other bulldozers have been contained in the hospital grounds, stated Alaa Abu al-Kaas, who was staying on the hospital to accompany her father who was being handled there.
“The concern and terror are actually consuming us alive,” she stated in a telephone name from a hall of one of many hospital’s buildings the place she was hiding. Her voice was barely audible amid loud booms and explosions.
Ms. al-Kaas, 19, stated that round 2 a.m. she heard photographs and the sound of tanks earlier than Israeli troopers, utilizing loudspeakers, ordered folks within the complicated to remain inside and shut the home windows. She stated Israeli forces instructed people who they might be moved to the Al-Mawasi space in southern Gaza, though it was not instantly clear when or how they might be moved. Israel has sought to create a humanitarian “secure zone” in Al-Mawasi, though civilians have discovered little shelter there.
“We’re simply sitting right here anxiously ready for them to evacuate us out of right here,” she stated.
Ms. al-Kaas stated that she had seen Israeli troopers holding a number of folks, their palms sure and garments partially stripped off, within the courtyard of the hospital complicated. She added that our bodies of people that had apparently been shot have been mendacity within the courtyard.
Israel has stated that the hospital complicated doubled as a secret Hamas navy command middle, calling it certainly one of many examples of civilian services that Hamas makes use of to defend its actions.
Hamas has denied the accusations, and Israel got here below criticism from well being and humanitarian organizations after storming the hospital in November. Proof examined by The New York Instances suggests Hamas did use the hospital for canopy and maintained a hardened tunnel beneath it that was provided with water, energy and air-conditioning. However the Israeli navy has struggled to show that Hamas maintained a command-and-control middle below the ability.
“We all know that senior Hamas terrorists have regrouped inside Al-Shifa Hospital and are utilizing it to command assaults in opposition to Israel,” Mr. Hagari stated. He added that there can be “no obligation” for employees and sufferers to evacuate, however stated a passage can be offered for civilians to go away the hospital.
The Gaza Well being Ministry stated the operation started at about 2 a.m. “Everybody who tries to maneuver is focused by sniper bullets and quadcopters,” it stated.
After Israel’s high-profile raid of Al-Shifa, it took reporters to see a shaft on the complicated resulting in a tunnel community. Whereas Israel has publicly revealed the existence of just one tunnel entrance on the hospital grounds, U.S. spy businesses say that their very own intelligence signifies that Hamas and one other Palestinian group used Al-Shifa to command forces and maintain some hostages.
Hiba Yazbek contributed reporting.
