Israeli soldier stands near boxes labelled "Medical Supplies" at the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, during what they say is a delivery of humanitarian aid to the facility in Gaza City, November 15, 2023 in this handout image.
Israeli Defence Forces/Handout via Reuters
Israel raids Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital, urges Hamas to surrender
The Israeli military said it was carrying out a raid on Wednesday against Palestinian Hamas militants in Al Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital, and urged them all to surrender.
Less than an hour earlier, around 1 a.m. local time (2300 GMT), 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."
Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Gaza health ministry, told Al Jazeera television that Israeli forces had raided the western side of the medical complex. "There are big explosions and dust entered the areas where we are. We believe an explosion occurred inside the hospital," Bursh said.
The fate of Al Shifa has become a focus of international alarm because of worsening conditions in the facility in recent days with global calls for a humanitarian ceasefire after five weeks of an Israeli assault on Gaza.
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 and uses the hospital and tunnels beneath it to conceal military operations and to hold hostages. Hamas denies it.
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Reports Times of Israel
Hamas says it holds Israel, Biden responsible for Al Shifa hospital raid
Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday it "holds the occupation (Israel) and President Biden fully responsible for (the) occupation army's raid of Al Shifa medical complex".
Hamas said a US intelligence statement on Tuesday that the US supported Israel's conclusion that the militants had operations at Al Shifa "was a green light" for the raid.
"The White House and the Pentagon's adoption of the false (Israeli) narrative, claiming that the resistance is using Al Shifa medical complex for military purposes, was a green light for the occupation to commit more massacres against civilians," Hamas said.
There was no immediate US comment on the raid.
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Both Israel and the United States have said that Hamas militants were using Gaza's hospitals to hide command posts and hostages using underground tunnels.
Hamas, health authorities and Shifa directors have denied that the group is concealing military infrastructure in or under the complex and have said they would welcome an international inspection.
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Israel says IDF troops provided incubators and baby food to Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces have provided incubators and baby food to Al Shifa hospital in Gaza even as it conducts a raid against Hamas there.
"Our precise and targeted operation against Hamas in the Shifa Hospital is still underway. We can confirm that incubators, baby food and medical supplies brought by IDF (Israel Defence Forces) tanks from Israel have successfully reached the Shifa hospital," the military said.
Hamas has denied Israel's allegations over Shifa hospital.
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India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a Wednesday event in New Delhi the Israel-Gaza conflict is a worrying manifestation of geopolitical challenges for the India-Middle East-Europe trade corridor.
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A doctor at the Gaza Strip's Al Shifa hospital told Reuters on Wednesday that gunfire outside the compound forced staff to stay away from windows for their safety after an Israeli raid.
Israeli forces said they were raiding the complex because Hamas has a command centre underneath it and uses connected tunnels to hold hostages, an allegation that doctor Ahmed El Mokhallalati denied.
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Witnesses said two other trucks were lined up waiting to cross after the first one.
The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the organisation has lost touch with health personnel at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after Israeli forces began raiding the facility. (Reuters)
Medics look at the damages in the smoke-filled wards inside Al Shifa hospital following an Israeli raid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza November 15, 2023.
Credit: Gaza Ministry Of Health/Handout via Reuters
Palestinian Authority slams Israel hospital raid as 'violation' of international law.
Jordan says UN Security Council silence led to 'barbarism' of Israel hospital raid. (AFP)
Israeli military says weapons found in Al Shifa hospital
Israeli troops found weapons and "terrorist infrastructure" during an on-going raid at one specific location within Al Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, a senior military official said on Wednesday.
The official told reporters that there had been no fighting inside the hospital complex after the soldiers arrived during the night, and no friction with medical staff or patients. (Reuters)
Israeli military spokesperson says no fighting took place within hospital.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said Wednesday its armed wing brought down an Israeli drone in Gaza, where it is fighting alongside Hamas. (AFP)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday urged Israel to end the "indiscriminate killing of Palestinians" in Gaza, in his sharpest criticism of Israel since war against Hamas broke out over a month ago. "We demand an immediate ceasefire on the part of Israel in Gaza and strict compliance with international humanitarian law, which today is clearly not respected," he said during a debate in parliament ahead of a vote in confidence on Thursday in which he is poised to be re-appointed for another term.
Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gestures as he speaks during the investiture debate, as Spain's Socialists seek to clinch a new term following a deal with the Catalan separatist Junts party for government support, a pact which involves amnesties for people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, in Madrid, Spain November 15, 2023.
Credit: Reuters Photo