Israel has launched an in a single day raid on Gaza’s largest medical facility – al Shifa hospital – hours after the US backed claims it was being utilized by Hamas fighters.
Israeli forces stated they entered a “specified area” of the medical advanced for a “precise and targeted” operation “against Hamas“.
The raid got here hours after the US backed Israel’s claims that the medical facility had been utilized by Hamas as a base of operations.
Hamas – which flatly denied the claims – blamed US President Joe Biden and his administration for the Israeli raid, saying that the “adopting” of the allegations had successfully given Israel the “green light” to launch the operation.
However, in an announcement, the White House stated it didn’t help air strikes on the hospital and that it “did not want to see” a firefight inside the power.
The White House additionally urged that sufferers “must be protected” through the raid.
Israel-Gaza newest: Israeli forces enter al Shifa hospital in ‘focused operation’
While 1000’s have fled the hospital because the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas battle, round 650 sufferers and 500 workers – together with round 2,500 displaced Palestinians – are thought to nonetheless be in al Shifa, in keeping with UN estimates.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, stated their intelligence put the variety of folks nonetheless inside the power at round 1,000.
However, he informed CNN that Israeli forces have been “not overrunning the hospital” and as an alternative have been finishing up a focused operation in a “specific location” of the al Shifa medical advanced.
He didn’t give additional particulars of the “complex” operation, however stated it was a “military necessity” based mostly on Israeli and US intelligence.
He additionally stated IDF forces would “perhaps” rescue a number of the estimated 240 hostages who have been taken into Gaza throughout Hamas’s assault on Israel on 7 October.
Israel has repeatedly claimed that al Shifa – a big medical advanced in Gaza City – together with different hospitals, have been used as bases by Hamas.
It has beforehand threatened to focus on al Shifa and has warned concerning the potential for the power to lose its safety underneath worldwide humanitarian regulation if used to cover fighters or retailer weapons.
On Monday, President Biden stated that the hospital “must be protected” and stated it was his “expectation” that there could be “less intrusive action”.
However, on Tuesday, the White House’s nationwide safety council spokesperson, John Kirby, stated the US had its personal intelligence that confirmed Hamas have been working out of al Shifa.
Hamas responded to “strongly condemn and reject the claims”. However, hours later, the IDF introduced it had launched its “targeted operation” on the hospital.
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In an announcement asserting the raid, the IDF stated it had “publicly warned time and again that Hamas’ continued military use of the hospital jeopardised its protected status under international law”.
“Yesterday [Monday], the IDF conveyed to the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours,” the Israeli navy stated in an announcement.
“Unfortunately, they did not.”
The IDF urged any Hamas fighters within the hospital to give up instantly.
In response, Hamas stated it held Israel, President Biden, and his administration, “fully responsible for the repercussions of the occupation army’s storming of the Shifa Medical Complex, and what the medical staff and thousands of displaced people are exposed to, as a result of this brutal crime against a health facility protected by international law”.
The raid got here amid claims of a humanitarian disaster on the hospital, which has been encircled by Israeli troops.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry stated 32 sufferers, together with three infants, had died because the hospital’s emergency generator ran out of gasoline on Saturday.
On Monday, the ministry launched pictures of a couple of dozen untimely infants wrapped in blankets collectively on a mattress to maintain them heat.
Israel’s navy stated it was working to deliver incubators into Gaza and on Tuesday shared a picture displaying a soldier unloading incubators from a van.
The navy didn’t make it clear if the incubators had been delivered or how they’d be powered.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, not less than 11,255 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its retaliatory strikes after the 7 October assault.
Source: information.sky.com”