Gaza officials condemn the “blatant war crimes” committed by the Israeli Army. In response, the Israeli Army defends its actions, asserting that it is conducting a targeted operation to eliminate “senior Hamas terrorists” taking refuge in the building. However, no intelligence or evidence was provided to substantiate the Israeli claims.
The Israeli Army announced this early Monday that it is carrying out a “precise operation” in the Al Shifa hospital, the largest hospital complex in the Gaza Strip, alleging that it has intelligence information that indicates the “use” of the building by “senior terrorists” of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), according to Europa Press. “The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is carrying out a high-precision operation in the areas of the hospital, according to Intelligence reports that demand immediate action,” said Army spokesman Daniel Hagari, who denied that an evacuation of the center is mandatory.
In this sense, he stated that “senior Hamas officials have regrouped inside the aforementioned hospital,” which “they are using to carry out attacks against Israel. “Our targeted mission is not only an operational necessity, it is a global imperative,” Hagari has stated. Hagari has stressed that the Israeli Armed Forces have undergone “specific training” that has “prepared them for sensitive contexts and complex scenarios” that they may face. “Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza,” he said.
“We do not seek to harm the civilians where Hamas is hiding. Therefore, we carry out this operation with caution and care, while ensuring that the hospital maintains its important functions,” he indicated, referring to the presence of translators. Arabs, military doctors, and delivery of humanitarian aid.
The Army subsequently released a video of what it claims are Hamas members opening fire on its forces from “multiple buildings in the hospital” as part of the operation, before adding that the soldiers returned fire, “reaching to several terrorists” . “The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet work in a focused manner to confront terrorism and arrest terrorists in the Al Shifa Hospital area,” he said, before insisting that he has Intelligence information about that the center “is used to commit terrorist acts.”
“Our forces continue to operate in the hospital area”; He has outlined, while stating that “he will act in line with International Law and against the terrorist organization Hamas, which operates from hospitals and civil infrastructure systematically and cynically.”
Avichai Adrai, the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli Army, has also called on residents around the hospital and in the adjacent Rimal neighborhood to “immediately evacuate” to the “humanitarian zone” of Al Mauasi to “preserve their security”, according to a message published on his account on the social network.
The authorities of the Gaza Strip denounced this Monday that the Israeli Army is committing “flagrant war crimes” in the military incursion launched “with tanks, heavily armed soldiers and drones” since “early hours of dawn.” at Al Shifa Hospital.
The press office of the Gazan authorities has indicated in a statement published on their Telegram account that this “assault”, in which shots were heard inside the hospital, “is a war crime that confirms the deliberate intention of the occupation to eliminate the health sector and destroy hospitals.” They began shooting inside the complex, causing fear and panic among the wounded, sick, and displaced, threatening the lives of thousands of people (who are) inside. This war crime adds to the black record of the occupation Army, which continues to commit various crimes and massacres,” he denounced.
In this sense, the Palestinian authorities have condemned the military operation “in the strongest terms”: “We consider it a flagrant war crime, a violation of International Law, a violation of international agreements and a crime against humanity,” they have asserted. “(We also) hold the Israeli occupation, the US Government, and the international community fully responsible for the safety and lives of the medical personnel, the wounded, the sick, and the displaced of our Palestinian people,” they stated before appealing to the community. international “to intervene immediately and urgently to stop the occupation, stop the genocidal war and stop their aggression and attacks on medical institutions.”
Subsequently, Hamas published a statement in which it denounced “a new crime” by the Israeli Army and stated that the military “directly attacks the hospital buildings, without concern for the patients, medical workers, and displaced people who are inside,” according to the newspaper Filastin, linked to the Palestinian Islamist group.
“The crimes of the occupation and the war of extermination against our people and all sectors in Gaza will not generate an image of victory for (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his Nazi Army. They are an expression of the state of confusion and loss of hope by not obtaining military achievements, beyond attacking defenseless civilians,” he maintained.
Likewise, he has emphasized that “the failure of the international community and the United Nations to act against the occupation Army has been a green light for it to continue its war of genocide and ethnic cleansing, one of the pillars of which is the destruction of medical facilities in the Gaza Strip”, before calling on international organizations to “fulfill their responsibilities in protecting the remaining medical facilities in Gaza and documenting the crimes of the Nazi Zionists against the medical sector.” protected under the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law”.
Israel launched a bloody offensive against the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas attacks, which left 1,200 dead and 240 hostages. Since then, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave has reported the deaths of more than 31,700 Palestinians, plus another 418 due to the actions of security forces and Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
