Israeli Troops Storm Gaza’s Largest Hospital After Doctors Warn Of ‘Catastrophic Consequences’
In the overnight and early morning hours of Wednesday (local time), Israel’s military says it is moving against al-Shifa hospital, the Strip’s largest, while saying the assault “operation” is necessary to root out a Hamas command post there.
Al Jazeera earlier reported that Israel announced the hospital would be raided in “minutes,” but the fate of worried doctors and patients has remained unknown since. According to the latest being reported in The Wall Street Journal:
Israeli forces carried out a targeted operation against Hamas “in a specified area’’ of Gaza’s largest hospital, hours after the White House backed Israeli assertions that Palestinian militants are running military operations from the enclave’s hospitals.
The Israeli military said that it launched “a precise and targeted operation’’ in the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The White House had earlier cautioned Israel not to carry out airstrikes against the hospital. Hamas said in a statement that it holds Israel and President Biden “fully responsible” for the raid on Al-Shifa hospital.
On the ground, Al Jazeera coverage is showing chaos unfolding at the hospital, which has already been the site of mass deaths, given that the IDF has had it surrounded for days and has reportedly fired at targets near the entrance. Fighting has also engulfed its environs, where tanks have the area surrounded.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has stated: “Dozens of [Israeli] soldiers entered the emergency department building in Al-Shifa Hospital Complex.”
AL SHIFA HOSPITAL, GAZA pic.twitter.com/1r3nQ0ADCK
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) November 15, 2023
Doctors interviewed by Al Jazeera say they plan to remain with the patients, who have been moved into interior corridors, as gunfire can be heard on the hospital campus. There are multiple thousands, including displaced refugees seeking shelter, still inside the besieged hospital. There are growing accusations that Israel’s operation is a clear war crime.
Below is the official IDF statement in English announcing the new offensive against al-Shifa:
🔴 Operational Update:
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 15, 2023
IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital, based on intelligence information and an operational necessity.
The IDF is conducting a ground operation in Gaza to defeat Hamas and…
Palestinian Minister of Health Dr. Mai Al-Kaila had earlier been cited in regional sources as warning ahead of the new assault: “Israeli forces are committing a new crime against humanity, medical staff, and patients by besieging and bombing the Shifa Medical Complex. We hold the occupation fully responsible for the lives of the medical staff, patients, and displaced people in the Shifa Medical Complex, and we warn of the catastrophic consequences of storming the medical complex.”
Israel says it got a green light for the raid on Shifa from the US after the White House said it backs Israel’s narrative that it’s being used for military purposes.
