The Israeli army announced on Monday morning local time that an operation was underway in Gaza’s largest hospital.
Troops are carrying out a “precise operation” following information that senior Hamas officials used Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as a command center to plan and carry out terror attacks, the IDF said in a statement.
Loud booms caused the sky to light up in unverified video footage posted to social media, with one person claiming the area was “under siege” and was a “complete mess” in what was described as an “Israeli bombardment.”
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that the operation targeted limited areas within the hospital complex based on “concrete intelligence that required immediate action.”
“Our focused mission is not just an operational necessity; it is a global necessity,” he said in video footage on the IDF’s X-page.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that the operation at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital targeted limited areas within the hospital complex.
The hospital became the center of the Israel-Hamas war in November when the IDF said it had found tunnels it claimed had been used by Hamas.
“Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza. We do not seek to harm the civilians behind whom Hamas is hiding,” Hagari said.
Adding: “We call on all Hamas terrorists hiding in hospitals to surrender immediately. Medical facilities should never be exploited for terror. Hamas must be held accountable.”
IDF doctors and Arabic speakers accompanied security forces during the operation to help communicate with patients and staff, the Times of Israel reported.
The patients and medics were not told to evacuate, but the paths were cleared for civilians, the outlet reported.
The Israeli military said that “the IDF will continue humanitarian efforts and deliver food, water and additional supplies to the patients and civilians in the complex” once the mission is completed.
The hospital became the focal point of the war between Israel and Hamas in November, as Israel deployed what it says is a facade for a Hamas stronghold – claims the hospital and Hamas denied.
Israeli forces, some wearing face masks and firing guns into the air, stormed the hospital that month.
During the raid, they claimed to have found a tunnel shaft that they believed was used by Hamas terrorists.
The IDF has released a video it says shows a tunnel entrance in an outside area of Al-Shifa Hospital, two days after Israeli forces entered the site to hunt for a Hamas command center it says is under medical facility.
During the raid, Israëls said his forces found the bodies of two hostages – Yehudit Weiss, 64, and Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, 19 – in a building next to the hospital.
