Israeli soldiers have entered the Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip in their fight against the Islamist Hamas. Based on intelligence information, “a precise and targeted operation” is underway in a specific area of the clinic, the army announced early Wednesday morning. Medical teams and Arabic-speaking military personnel will be there. “We call on all Hamas terrorists present in the hospital to surrender,” the army said.
Israel suspects that the largest clinic complex in the Gaza Strip is a Hamas command center. The Palestinian organization denies this. Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7th and killed around 1,200 people.
The BBC quoted an eyewitness at the clinic who reported six tanks and more than a hundred soldiers on the hospital grounds. Some were masked and shouted in Arabic: “Don’t move, don’t move!” Smoke bombs were also used.
A clinic doctor, Ahmed Muchallalati, told the Washington Post about hours of gunfire and explosions around the hospital. He saw Israeli tanks near the building complex. This information could not be independently verified in the morning.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of Monday there were more than 2,000 people in the Shifa clinic in the north of the sealed-off coastal strip, including probably more than 600 patients and around 1,500 displaced people. The information is based on estimates from the local Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas. Eyewitnesses confirmed the numbers.
There have been clashes between Israeli ground troops and Palestinian extremists near hospitals for days. Shifa Hospital staff reported continued shelling in the area.
According to the army, the medical teams and Arabic-speaking forces have undergone special training and are supposed to ensure that no harm is caused to civilians used by Hamas as human shields, the armed forces said in a statement.
According to media reports, the military contacted Palestinian health officials in advance and informed them of the impending attack, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled health ministry told Al Jazeera television.
According to the UN, only one hospital in the northern Gaza Strip is accepting patients due to fighting between the Israeli army and the Islamist Hamas and due to a lack of fuel. The Al-Ahli Hospital in the city of Gaza is the only one still in minimal operation, the UN emergency relief office OCHA said on Wednesday night. “All others have ceased operations due to a lack of electricity, medical supplies, oxygen, food and water.” The situation is “made worse by bombardments and fighting in their surroundings.” There are currently around 500 patients in Al-Ahli Hospital.
Israel’s military spokesman Daniel Hagari had previously announced that the armed forces would also take action against alleged Hamas infrastructure in hospitals in the Gaza Strip. “Hamas’ continued military use of Shifa Hospital will result in it losing its special protection under international law,” Hagari said. “We are forced to act carefully and precisely against Hamas’ military infrastructure in the hospitals.”
The USA also assumes that Hamas is using hospitals in the Gaza Strip for military purposes. National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said: “Hamas and members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are using some hospitals in the Gaza Strip – including the Shifa Clinic – and tunnels beneath them to conceal and advance their military operations and to capture hostages “to hold on to”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again called for his country’s support in the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In a post on ” He demanded: “The forces of civilization must support Israel in defeating the barbarism of Hamas.” Earlier, Trudeau reportedly “urgently” called on the Israeli government to “exercise maximum restraint” in its fight in Gaza and to grant a humanitarian pause. He said: “The world is witnessing this killing of women, children and babies. It must stop.”
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), humanitarian support for over two million people in the Gaza Strip could soon collapse due to a lack of fuel. A fuel depot inside the Gaza Strip that the aid agency last used is now empty, said UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini. “It’s very simple. Without fuel, the humanitarian operation in Gaza will come to an end. Many more people will suffer and probably die.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in hospitals in the Gaza Strip. Guterres said these recorded dramatic losses of human life. “In the name of humanity, the Secretary General calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” it said in a statement. Israel criticized Guterres for his role in the Gaza war. “Guterres does not deserve to be UN chief,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. He did not take a decisive enough stand against Hamas’ terror. “Guterres, like all free nations, should say clearly and loudly: ‘Liberate Gaza from Hamas,'” Cohen continued.
French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu travels to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Before his departure, he wrote on the news platform X, formerly Twitter, that he wanted to hold discussions about the situation in the Gaza Strip and the security situation in the region. He wants to visit the Gulf region and end his trip in Israel on Friday. It is the first visit by a French defense minister to Israel since 2000.
