GAZA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — Dozens of Israeli military personnel raided Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital under heavy fire on Wednesday, according to a senior medical official.
In a press statement sent to Xinhua, Monir al-Bursh, director general of the Pharmaceutical Department of the Gaza Health Ministry, said that “the Israeli army officially informed the hospital in a telephone call about the raid and urged people not to approach it.” windows, balconies or doors.
For its part, the Israeli army announced that it was conducting a precise operation against Hamas in a specific area of Al-Shifa Hospital based on intelligence information and an operational need.
Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra responded that “there is nothing to suggest a shooting in the hospital because there is no resistance there and what the crew is doing constitutes terrorism for the residents of the complex.”
According to al-Qedra, around 1,500 staff and 7,000 displaced people are currently trapped in the hospital, depending on capacity.
Israeli tanks have surrounded several hospitals in Gaza City in recent days, claiming they house tunnels and represent a base used by Hamas to shelter its leaders and also conduct military operations against the Israeli army.
Both Hamas and Gaza’s Health Ministry rejected Israel’s accusations, calling them “an attempt at deception and incitement to prepare the destruction of hospitals and the murder of patients.”