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Israel raids Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital

Israel raids Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital
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

GAZA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Israeli military said it was carrying out an operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip's Al Shifa hospital on Wednesday and urged all members of the militant group in the hospital to surrender.

  • Israel said it targets ‘specified area’ of hospital
  • Medical teams and Arabic speakers part of operation

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

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Nico Roets says:

    It will be interesting to see how many of the claimed thousands of bodies allegedly stored in the hospital are actually discovered…

  • Lisa T says:

    Pity that your biased reporting doesn’t mention that the IDF has taken care to evacuate affected portions of the hospital. Shame on you.

  • Dewald Joubert snr says:

    It amazes me that so many people believed for so long that Hamas is not using Al Shifa as a military head quarter for fighting purposes and I am glad that the truth has now been revealed to all the world.

  • This report has left out the following:
    The IDF have brought medical equipment, and incubators as well as medicine to the Shifa hospital.
    The IDF has supplied the hospital with fuel to keep the generators going.
    The IDF is in control of this hospital and giving them humanitarian aid.
    I encourage those who want to learn more about what is actually happening in Gaza to go to:
    https://t.me/beholdisraelchannel

    • Paul Gray says:

      People don’t want the truth. They want to vilify Israel for reasons unknown to me.
      We live in a world where truth no longer matters. The media see truth as secondary to anything that will get a click.
      The reporting in this war, even on the DM has been so biased against Israel it makes one wonder where the money is coming from.

  • jcdville stormers says:

    Israel professional in defense and attack,cant say that about Hamas

  • Many of the comments made in this section are to vilify the resistance of the Palestinian people against a siege and blockade over decades in Gaza. This isn’t an Oct 7th thing, this is about 1948 Nakba and the apartheid regime which has been affecting the Palestinians. It’s not CLAIMS, many people have gone to Israel and experienced and seen it with their own eyes and if you do your research you would see through the propaganda. IDF isn’t helping ANYONE besides their own.

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