Doctors and interpreters present
Israeli forces enter Shifa hospital
November 15, 2023, 2:20 a.m
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Israel’s military spokesman said in the evening that they were forced to act “carefully and precisely” against Hamas infrastructure in hospitals. A few hours later the time has come: Israeli soldiers advance into the Shifa hospital. The largest clinic in the Gaza Strip is believed to be the Hamas command center.
Israeli forces have entered part of Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Based on intelligence, soldiers “conducted a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specific area of Shifa Hospital,” the army announces on X, among other things. “We call on all Hamas terrorists present in the hospital to surrender.”
Shortly before, the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza had warned of a raid on the clinic by Israeli troops. “Israel has informed us that it will storm the Al-Shifa hospital complex in the next few minutes,” the authority’s spokesman told the Arabic TV channel Al-Jazeera. “The crew has not said whether they will enter the complex. But they have said they will storm the complex within minutes. We do not know how the storming will take place or what mechanism will be used, nor do we know “Israel’s intentions with the storming”. Officials in Gaza informed the International Committee of the Red Cross about the Israeli warning.
According to the army, the forces involved in the military operation in Shifa Hospital also include medical teams and Arabic speakers. They had undergone special training and were supposed to ensure that no harm was caused to civilians used by Hamas as human shields. “Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the civilians in Gaza,” the statement emphasizes.
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There have been clashes between Israeli ground troops and Palestinian extremists near hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip for days. Shifa Hospital staff reported continued shelling in the area. Israel suspects that the hospital complex is a Hamas command center. This denies this. Israel’s military spokesman Daniel Hagari had already announced that the armed forces would also take action against suspected Islamist Hamas infrastructure in hospitals in the Gaza Strip. “Hamas’ continued military use of Shifa Hospital will result in it losing its special protection under international law,” Hagari said on Tuesday evening. “We are forced to act carefully and precisely against Hamas’ military infrastructure in the hospitals.”
Shifa Hospital is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. It was also the best-equipped hospital with the most specialized doctors before the recent Israeli attacks. Particularly seriously ill people were treated there.