Israel renewed its operation Thursday at Gaza’s largest hospital, targeting a Hamas command center nestled among patients, medics and displaced people.
“Tonight we conducted a targeted operation at Shifa Hospital,” said Major General Yaron Finkelman, head of Israeli military operations in Gaza. ‘We keep moving forward.’
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli bulldozers had destroyed “parts of the southern entrance” to the hospital.
Both Israel and its main ally, the United States, believe Hamas has a command center under the Al-Shifa complex, which has become a flashpoint in the war.
The Palestinian militant group and the hospital’s directors have denied the accusation.
Before Israel sent troops to the hospital complex for the first time on Wednesday, UN agencies estimated that 2,300 patients, staff and displaced civilians were sheltering in Al-Shifa.
The Israeli military claimed that an initial raid uncovered military equipment, weapons and what spokesman Daniel Hagari described as “an operational headquarters with communications equipment.”
