Israel claims to have killed 20 militants at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following early morning raid
The Guardian / Reuters | Jason Burke | 19 March 2024
Maybe 20 militants who knows – but guarantee there would be many more innocents murdered in this attack by Israel – Mark
Fierce fighting has continued around al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, as Israeli troops battled Hamas militants after seizing control of the strategically situated medical complex in an early morning raid.
Witnesses reported multiple airstrikes and ferocious firefights as fears rose for the safety of hundreds of civilians in the immediate vicinity of the hospital.
Israeli military officials said troops were “continuing precise operations in the Shifa hospital to thwart terrorism” and had killed 20 Hamas militants there, including Faiq Mabhouh, whom they identified as the head of the operations directorate of Hamas’s internal security. At least 80 people were detained by the Israeli forces and one soldier killed in the raid.
The raid was based on “intelligence information indicating the use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists to command attacks”, Israeli officials said.
Separately, Joe Biden spoke by phone with Benjamin Netanyahu in their first call since mid-February. The White House said the US president and Israel’s prime minister discussed the situation in Rafah and efforts to increase aid to Gaza.
Netanyahu said the two men, whose relationship has become increasingly tense, had discussed Israel’s commitment to achieve all the targets it had set out for the war: eliminating Hamas; releasing all the hostages; and ensuring Gaza would no longer pose a threat to Israel.
This would be done “while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that helps achieve those goals”, Netanyahu added.
The fighting and the devastation in northern Gaza has forced thousands of Palestinians to seek shelter at Shifa, living in makeshift tents in its grounds. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, expressed deep concern about the fighting, which he said was “endangering health workers, patients and civilians”.
“We are terribly worried about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza,” he wrote on X. “Hospitals should never be battlegrounds.”
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www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/18/clashes-idf-hamas-israel-takes-control-key-al-shifa-hospital
