Israeli soldiers entered Gaza’s largest hospital last night. – Military forces are carrying out a “precise and targeted action” against Hamas in parts of the Shifa hospital, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on X on the night of Wednesday. Israeli soldiers and tanks have surrounded the hospital for several days and asked everyone in the area to evacuate. According to doctors inside the hospital, there are 633 patients there, among them premature children. Israel says the military has brought incubators and baby food to the youngest patients at the hospital. Asking Hamas to surrender The Israeli army believes Hamas operates a command center under the hospital. Hamas rejects this. – Israel is at war with Hamas, not with civilians in Gaza, writes the military. Among the forces are medical teams and people who speak Arabic. According to Israel, they must ensure that no civilians “who are used by Hamas as human shields” are harmed. They are asking Hamas to surrender. The hospital is Gaza’s largest and is located in Gaza City. Was warned A doctor at the hospital tells CNN that they were given 30 minutes’ warning before the soldiers arrived. – We were asked to stay away from the windows and balconies. We can hear the armored vehicles, says Dr. Khaled Abu Samra to CNN. Mohammed Zaqout, who heads the hospitals in the Gaza Strip, says that soldiers have entered several wards, including the emergency department and surgical wards where people receive intensive treatment – The occupation forces stormed the buildings. The patients are terrified, he tells the AFP news agency. – They scream. It’s a very frightening situation… we can’t do anything else for the patients but pray, says Zaqout to AFP. Displaced Palestinians seek shelter at Al Shifa hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, 8 November 2023 Photo: STRINGER / Reuters Many thousands of soldiers in Gaza Sigbjørn Halsne, section chief at the Norwegian Defense College, tells news that attacks against hospital is quite rare. Hospitals are protected against attack in war according to the People’s Court. – This type of attack is rare, where you enter a hospital rather purposefully after a long time and a surrounding, says Halsne. He says the Israeli defense forces are in the Gaza Strip with three divisions, each of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers. After Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel on 7 October, in which, according to the Israeli authorities, around 1,200 people were killed, Israel has bombed Gaza almost non-stop. More than 11,300 people have been killed, among them more than 4,500 children, according to health authorities in Gaza, controlled by Hamas. The Palestinian health authorities hold Israel responsible for the lives of health workers, patients and displaced persons at the Shifa hospital, according to a statement given to the Reuters news agency. They say around 50,000 displaced persons have sought shelter at the hospital. Israel and the US are responsible Hamas blames US President Joe Biden for the military action against the hospital. On Tuesday, the United States claimed to have evidence that Hamas has used the Shifa hospital for military purposes. Protests against the bombing of Gaza outside the White House in Washington DC Photo: Jose Luis Magana / AP – We have information confirming that Hamas is using this hospital for command and control purposes and probably for storing weapons, said US national security spokesman John Kirby It was no evidence was presented for the allegations. Kirby stressed that the actions of Hamas do not absolve Israel of its responsibility to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip. Hamas believes the statement gave the green light for the Israeli action against the al-Shifa hospital. They ask the UN to inspect all hospitals in Gaza. Several independent organizations are affiliated with the hospital. None of them have so far confirmed that they have observed Hamas’ presence in the hospital. A child injured in an Israeli bomb attack on a hospital in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. Several hundred thousand have fled here after Israel announced an attack in the north. Photo: Fatima Shbair / AP Does not support attacks on hospitals US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a long telephone conversation on Tuesday about Israel and Gaza, and the effort to free hostages held by Hamas, writes the White House. The White House says in a statement that the United States does not support an “attack” against a hospital from the air, nor does it want a shootout at a hospital. The White House also says that hospitals and patients must be protected. – We do not support an attack on a hospital from the air, and we do not want a shootout in a hospital where innocent, helpless and sick people are caught in the crossfire, says a bureaucrat in the US National Security Council. Norwegian citizens out on Wednesday Around 270 Norwegian citizens and persons with Norwegian connections are in the Gaza Strip, according to the government. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was informed that 51 Norwegian citizens have been given permission to leave Gaza via the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday. Over 11,300 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have been killed in the attacks since 7 October.
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Israel has entered the Shifa hospital – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
