Israel launches in a single day raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

Israeli forces have launched an in a single day raid at Gaza’s largest medical facility, Al-Shifa Hospital, as heavy gunfire triggered panic contained in the complicated.

The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) mentioned its troopers have been at Al-Shifa to hold out a “excessive precision operation in restricted areas” following intel that Hamas terrorists have been working from the hospital.

A hearth broke out within the hospital’s surgical wing attributable to Israeli bombing, reported Al-Jazeera, including that some folks have been injured and killed. The native well being authorities are but to substantiate any casualties.

Tanks surrounded the hospital at midnight of evening and drones and quadcopters have been additionally reported over the power, inflicting panic amongst medics, sufferers, and different individuals who have been contained in the hospital.

“IDF troops are at the moment conducting a exact operation within the space of Shifa hospital – based mostly on intelligence info indicating the usage of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists to conduct and promote terrorist exercise,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari mentioned.

Gaza’s well being ministry, an company of the Hamas-controlled authorities, mentioned Israeli forces have “fabricated narratives to deceive the world” to justify the storming of the Al-Shifa hospital.

“We maintain the Israeli occupation chargeable for the lives of medical employees, sufferers and displaced folks contained in the Al-Shifa Medical Advanced,” it mentioned.

Unverified movies on social media confirmed dozens of individuals fleeing the hospital compound with their flashlights on because the sound of bombing rang out.

Rear Admiral Hagari mentioned in the course of the encirclement of the complicated “terrorists opened fireplace from inside the hospital” and troopers returned fireplace.

On Sunday, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorised plans to launch a navy assault on Rafah within the southern Gaza Strip, the place a couple of million Palestinians are sheltering with nowhere else to show.

“We’ll function in Rafah. This may take a number of weeks, and it’ll occur,” he mentioned, with out clarifying if he meant the assault would final for weeks or would start in weeks.

It comes amid mounting warnings by the US, UK, and different nations over the humanitarian disaster such an operation would trigger within the final comparatively protected place within the crowded Gaza enclave after greater than 5 months of struggle.

US president Joe Biden has known as an assault on Rafah a “pink line” if undertaken with out provisions to guard civilians. However he has additionally mentioned the US is not going to abandon its assist for Israel, its closest ally within the Center East, no matter Mr Netanyahu’s actions.

In November final yr, IDF forces raided Al-Shifa Hospital to conduct what they known as a “search operation for Hamas terrorists” and at the very least two infants died because of downed electrical energy within the neonatal intensive care unit.

The IDF later launched movies and pictures of what it described as an “operational tunnel” inside the Al-Shifa Hospital complicated, in addition to footage of a car containing weapons. Earlier it launched movies of duffel luggage with weapons that it mentioned have been discovered contained in the hospital.