Israel raids largest Hospital in Gaza
ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency
Wed / 15 November 2023 / 12:09
As war intensifies in Gaza, Israel dragged the conflict to hospitals and attacked the the largest medical complex in the Strip.
Tehran (ISNA) - Israeli forces raid al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest medical complex in the Strip on Wednesday where thousands have taken shelter.
According to the latest information from Gaza's health ministry, there are about 2,500 people inside the hospital.
These include medical teams, patients - including 600 wounded people and 36 newborns - and displaced people sheltering at the hospital.
Aljazeera reports that A doctor inside the facility says the Israeli raid has spurred fear among patients, displaced people and health workers.
Earlier The Pentagon claimed that US intelligence had information that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are using Gaza's hospitals, including al-Shifa, for military purposes.
Israeli forces also claimed they were raiding the complex because Hamas has a command center underneath it and uses connected tunnels to hold hostages.
Hamas denies it is using hospitals in Gaza, such as al-Shifa, as command centers, accusing Israel and the United States of trying to justify "brutal massacres".
More than 11,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas's attacks stands at more than 1,200.
Palestine demands urgent international protection for medical staff, patients, displaced people as Israeli army storms Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry also condemns Israeli forces' taking of al-Shifa Hospital.
In a statement posted in Arabic to the ministry's X account, they termed the Israeli operation a "violation of International humanitarian law," and said that they are "holding Israel responsible for the safety of civilians and medical staff."
A doctor at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital has told Reuters that gunfire outside the compound has forced staff to stay away from windows for their safety following an Israeli raid.
"Israeli forces have tried to kill anyone moving inside ... No one has done anything. We don't have any kind of resistance inside the hospital," a person inside the medical complex told Aljazeera.
"Some American reports say there is a network of tunnels inside the hospital. This is not true at all," he added.
Meanwhile Israeli Army Radio says No sign of Israeli hostages at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after military entered facility.
Lebanese news network Al-Mayadeen also reported that "Occupation forces have turned Al-Shifa Hospital into a military barracks and are storming more sections within it".
Mohammed Zaqout, the director of hospitals in Gaza, told the Associated Press over the phone that the patients, including children, are terrified after Israeli forces stormed the buildings.
"They are screaming. It's a very terrifying situation ... we can do nothing for the patients but pray," he said.
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