Israel launches ‘targeted’ military operation inside Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital

Israel said its military launched a “targeted” operation against Hamas early Wednesday morning inside Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, where thousands of Palestinians are believed to be sheltering. Conditions at the hospital, which has run out of fuel and is no longer considered operational, have deteriorated rapidly in recent days amid intense fighting, with doctors warning of a “catastrophic” situation for patients, staff and displaced people still inside. In a statement posted online, the Israel Defense Forces said it had begun “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital.” IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner told CNN later Wednesday that the operation at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital was “ongoing.” Israeli radio reported that, so far, the army had found no indication of hostages inside the hospital. Israeli tanks and military vehicles were “inside the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital,” Khader Al Za’anoun, a reporter for the Palestinian news agency, Wafa, told CNN. Israeli soldiers, he said, were in the buildings “conducting search and interrogation operations with the young men amidst intense and violent gunfire inside the hospital.” He added that the Israeli army “is calling on the young men through megaphones to raise their hands, come out, and surrender themselves.” Earlier, he said gunfire was exchanged across the hospital yard. In its statement Wednesday, Israel again accused Hamas of continuing to use the large hospital complex for military purposes which, it said, “jeopardizes the hospital’s protected status under international law.” Hamas and hospital officials have consistently rejected Israel’s claims that Hamas has built a command center under the hospital. The desperate situation at Al-Shifa hospital has triggered fresh international outcry over Israel’s actions in Gaza. International pressure on the Israeli government has also hardened in recent days amid accounts of dire circumstances at Gaza’s other fuel-starved hospitals, and severe shortages of food and water.