The military raided the Gaza Hospital because of Hamas regrouping there
The Israeli Defense Forces in the Al-Shifa Hospital: Israel’s response to the attack on Hamas during November 29 Israeli storming
The Israeli military said that it had launched the raid based on new intelligence that Hamas officials were operating from the hospital, four months after Israeli forces stormed the complex and found a tunnel shaft they said supported their contention that the armed group had used it to conceal military operations. Since then, Israel has withdrawn many troops from northern Gaza and shifted the focus of its invasion to the south.
In a video posted early Monday, Daniel Hagari said the Israel Defense Forces will conduct the operation with care and caution, while ensuring the hospital’s vital functions are continued.
“Communications were cut off, and the displaced people were trapped inside the specialized surgery building and in the emergency reception in Building 8,” according to the ministry.
Flyers signed by the Israeli military urging civilians to evacuate were dropped on top of Al-Shifa and the surrounding neighborhood. Locals in Gaza inside the medical complex shared the flyers with the media.
The flyer read, “You are in a dangerous combat zone if you are present in Al-Rimal neighborhood and the displaced in Al-Shifa Hospital.” The Israeli Defense Forces are trying to destroy a terrorist structure at your residence. The Israel Defense Forces advises you to head south from Al-Rashid Street and evacuate to the humanitarian area in Al- Mawasi.
In Hagari’s video statement, he said the Israeli military would provide a humanitarian effort to provide food, water and other supplies to civilians and hospital patients on the ground.
Hamas has denied the accusations, and Israel came under criticism from health and humanitarian organizations after storming the hospital in November. Evidence examined by The New York Times suggests Hamas did use the hospital for cover and maintained a hardened tunnel beneath it that was supplied with water, power and air-conditioning. The Israeli military can’t prove that Hamas kept a control center under the facility.
Ms. al- Kaas said that Israeli soldiers had bound some people and stripped them of their clothes in the courtyard of the hospital. She added that bodies of people who had apparently been shot were lying in the courtyard.
By midday, about 15 Israeli tanks and several bulldozers were inside the hospital grounds, said Alaa Abu al-Kaas, who was staying at the hospital to accompany her father who was being treated there.
She said that the fear and terror are killing them in a phone call from one of the buildings she was hiding in. Her voice was barely heard when there were loud booms and explosions.
Israel said it had killed 20 terrorists during the operation. Among those killed, it said, was a senior Hamas official it identified as Faiq Mabhouh, the head of operations for the internal security forces of the Hamas government in Gaza, who was “armed and hiding in a compound” at the hospital. Hamas did not confirm his death or role in the organization and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
