The Israeli military said it was carrying out an operation against Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip’s Al Shifa Hospital on Wednesday and urged all members of the group in the hospital to surrender.
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said: “Based on intelligence information and an operational necessity, IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa hospital.”
The military added: “The IDF forces include medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians.”
A Gaza health ministry spokesman said Israel had told officials in the enclave that it would raid the Shifa hospital complex.
Five weeks after Israel began its assault on Gaza, the fate of Al Shifa has become a focus of international alarm because of worsening conditions in the facility. The plight of Gazan civilians has prompted calls for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Israel has said that Hamas has a command centre underneath Al Shifa hospital, the biggest in Gaza, and uses the hospital and tunnels underneath to conceal military operations and to hold hostages. Hamas denies it.
The U.S. said on Tuesday that its own intelligence supported those conclusions.
Israeli forces have waged fierce street battles against Hamas fighters over the past 10 days before advancing into the centre of Gaza City and surrounding Al Shifa.
Israel has sworn to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the militants’ cross-border assault into Israel on Oct 7. Israel says Hamas killed 1,200 people in the rampage and took more than 240 hostage.
