Israeli forces entered Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza to carry out what the military termed a “precise and targeted operation” against Hamas, an assertion that Palestinian officials have deemed false. Also, Hamas have blamed Isarel and the US for raid on the hospital.
The incursion by Israeli troops occurred in the early hours of Wednesday as tanks entered in compound after surrounding the besieged strip’s largest hospital, where patients and numerous individuals sought refuge from Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the coastal enclave.
The sustained attacks on the streets surrounding the hospital prompted UN agencies to call for an end to assaults on medical facilities.
Israel contends that Al-Shifa, currently non-functional due to a lack of fuel, allegedly holds strategic importance for Hamas operations, as it allegedly sits atop the group’s underground infrastructure, a target for destruction by the Israeli military.
The Israel Defense Forces, in a statement on the social media platform X, asserted that the operation in a “specified area” of the hospital was carried out “based on intelligence information and an operational necessity.” However, doctors at the Gaza City hospital consistently deny the claim.
A Gaza government spokesperson condemned the Israeli incursion into the hospital as a “war crime, a moral crime, and a crime against humanity,” noting that approximately 9,000 people were inside the hospital during the Israeli action.
Hours before Israel announced the raid on Al-Shifa, John Kirby, spokesperson for the US National Security Council, alleged that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad stored weapons in the hospital and were prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against the facility.
Palestinian authorities reject these claims, emphasising that Israel’s actions have indiscriminately led to the loss of lives in Gaza, totaling nearly 12,000 since October 7.
