Israeli Forces Enter Hospital In 'Targeted' Gaza Operation

A patient receives treatment at al-Shifa Hospital, following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City AP)

- BEL TREW CHRIS STEVENSON

The Israeli military entered Gaza’s largest hospital earlier today, conducting what it called a “precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area” of the facility, which has been the site of a standoff with the militant group.

The army surrounded al-Shifa Hospital as part of its ground offensive against Hamas. Israeli authorities claim the militants conceal military operations in the facility. But with hundreds of patients and medical personnel inside, Israeli authorities had refrained from entering until now.

“Yesterday, the IDF conveyed to the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours. Unfortunately, it did not,” the Israel Defence Forces 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 health authority in Gaza said: “We hold Israel’s raiding forces fully responsible for the lives of medical staff, patients and displaced people in Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital.”

According to the United Nations, over 2,500 patients, medics and internally displaced people – including dozens of vulnerable newborn babies that need incubators – are still inside al-Shifa Hospital. The UN said in recent days the medical complex had run out of generator fuel and was low on vital medical supplies including anaesthesia.

The hospital administration reported that after days of siege they were informed earlier today that Israeli troops would raid the complex “within minutes”, shortly before reporting intense gunfire inside the walls of the hospital.