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Israeli officials said the raid, which began Monday, was an operation targeting senior Hamas officials who had regrouped there.
By Casandra Vinograd
The Israeli military said its forces were carrying out their attack on Al-Shifa Hospital and arrested dozens of people there, in an operation that drew condemnation from Gaza health officials and raised questions about Israeli forces’ control of northern Gaza.
The most recent raid on Al-Shifa began on Monday in what Israeli officials said was an operation targeting senior Hamas operatives who had regrouped there, sparking a war that both sides said had caused casualties.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said its troops were “carrying out exact operations” at the sprawling hospital complex, which is Gaza’s largest. He said he had killed dozens of militants, but his account of the fighting may not be independently verified.
The Al Jazeera news channel reported that one of its journalists was detained for 12 hours. Journalist Ismail al-Ghoul was reportedly beaten. The Israeli military has failed to respond to those allegations, prompting outrage from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Gaza’s Ministry of Fitness condemned the attack as a “crime against fitness institutions,” and aid agencies expressed fear about the situation at the compound. The hospital and its facilities housed 30,000 displaced patients, doctors, and civilians.
“Hospitals will never be battlefields,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post, warning that the scenario was “endangering fitness workers, patients and civilians. “
Médecins Sans Frontières said it was “extremely concerned” about the protection of patients and medical staff inside the hospital. In a statement on Monday, the organization suggested “all parties to the conflict respect the hospital grounds and perimeter and ensure the protection of medical personnel. “patients and civilians. “
Israel said the hospital complex also serves as a secret command center for Hamas’ army, and described it as one of many examples of civilian facilities that Hamas uses for its activities.
Four months ago, Israeli forces stormed the compound and discovered a tunnel that they said supported their claim that the armed organization had used it to conceal military operations.
Since then, Israel has withdrawn many troops from northern Gaza and shifted half of its invasion southward. As a result, lawlessness has gripped the north, prompting foreign humanitarian organizations to suspend operations despite a dire humanitarian crisis.
Biden’s leadership has been increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct of the war and its impact on civilians. On Monday, President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, claimed that “more innocent civilians have died in this conflict, in this military operation. “, than in all the wars in Gaza combined, adding up to thousands of children. “
“A humanitarian crisis has hit Gaza and there is anarchy in the spaces that the Israeli army has cleared but stabilized,” he said.
CNN’s Gabby Sobelman and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting.
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