epaselect epa10936610 Al Shifa hospital is lit up in Gaza City 24 October 2023. The Health Ministry in Gaza warned that electric generators in hospitals will cease functioning within days due to a fuel shortage and that 32 health centers are out of service due to targeting by Israeli warplanes and a fuel shortage. More than 5,000 Palestinians and over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinian health authority, since Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October. EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Less than an hour earlier, a Gaza health ministry spokesman said Israel had told officials in the enclave that it would raid the Shifa hospital complex "in the coming minutes."
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said: "Based on intelligence information and an operational necessity, IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital."
The military added: "The IDF forces include medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians."
Israel has said that Hamas has a command centre underneath Al Shifa hospital, the biggest in Gaza, and uses the hospital and tunnels underneath to conceal military operations and to hold hostages. Hamas denies it.
The U.S. said on Tuesday that its own intelligence supported those conclusions.
Five weeks after Israel swore to destroy Hamas in retaliation for militants' cross-border assault, the fate of Al Shifa has become a focus of international alarm because of worsening conditions in the facility.
Medical staff have said the hospital is barely functioning due to Israeli attacks and a lack of fuel to power generators.
Israeli forces have waged fierce street battles against Hamas fighters over the past 10 days before advancing into the centre of Gaza City and surrounding Al Shifa