April 28, 2024
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces on Wednesday raided Gaza’s largest hospital, a facility that it says is a Hamas command post nestled under civilians.
Israel viewed Shifa Hospital as a key target in the conflict against the terrorist group. The war between Israel and Hamas erupted after the militant group killed some 1,200 people and seized around 240 captives in a surprise Oct. 7 attack.
Israel accused Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields.
A worsening fuel shortage, meanwhile, threatened to paralyze the delivery of humanitarian services across Gaza and shut down the mobile phone and internet network.
The Israeli military said it was carrying out a “precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the hospital,” adding that it was separate from where patients and medical staff are located.
The military said the soldiers were accompanied by medical teams and bringing in incubators. It shared footage of them unloading equipment — as well as boxes labeled “medical supplies” and “baby food” in English — inside the hospital compound.
It added that forces are searching for hostages. The plight of the captives, who include men, women and children, has galvanized Israeli support for the war, and families and supporters of the hostages are holding a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Hours before Israel's raid, the United States said its own intelligence indicated militants have used Shifa and other hospitals — and tunnels beneath them — to support military operations and hold hostages.
Meanwhile, hardly any aid has been delivered to the the north, which has been without power or running water for weeks. About two thirds of the territory’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes.
After refusing to allow fuel into Gaza for weeks, Israeli defense officials changed course early Wednesday to let in some 6,340 gallons, but the fuel will only allow the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, to continue bringing limited supplies of food and medicine from Egypt.
The agency is providing basic services to the more than 600,000 people sheltering in severely overcrowded U.N.-run schools and other facilities in the south.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said the decision to allow the fuel came at the request of the U.S. Israel has barred all fuel imports since the start of the war, saying Hamas would use it for military purposes.
Israeli troops, meanwhile, have extended their control across northern Gaza, capturing the territory’s legislature building and police headquarters. The military says Israeli forces have completed the takeover of Shati refugee camp, a densely built district, and are moving about freely in the city as a whole.
The military says its forces have found weapons and eliminated fighters in government buildings, schools and residential buildings. Israel says it has killed several thousand fighters, including important mid-level commanders, while 46 of its own soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
Inside some of the newly captured buildings, soldiers held up the Israeli flag and military flags in celebration.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that Hamas had “lost control” of northern Gaza and that Israel made significant gains in Gaza City. But when asked about the timeframe for the war, he said: “We’re talking about long months, not a day or two.”
