Israel reiterates that it did not attack Al Shifa hospital and accuses Hamas of using it for military purposes

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Jonathan Conricus reiterated that Israeli troops had not attacked Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital “or any part of it” and accused Hamas of using it for “military purposes.”

“We are in contact with the local authorities in Gaza, with the (hospital) director and others, and we are helping them and informing them where they can go to evacuate the area. We are also trying to coordinate safe evacuation and transportation.” “The patients still remain in the hospital,” Conricus said in an interview with CNN.

The IDF spokesman stressed that while they have troops in the area, they are not surrounding or pressuring them and have stopped fire so that “all the people who are there, both the displaced people who have sought refuge and others .. that are in the enclosure can move around safely.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli army representative accused Hamas of using the hospital “for military purposes, which constitutes a war crime,” which, he stressed, “violates the Geneva Convention and endangers the protected status of the hospital.”

In this sense, Conricus has once again called on the population of the Gaza Strip to evacuate the place and “move to a relatively safe area in the south, with the commitment not to attack civilians and out of respect for human rights.”

“We know that Hamas is using the hospital for military purposes. We know it is full of fighters seeking refuge and trying to hide from our forces under the hospital. “That’s also one of the reasons why we’re trying to evacuate it because we don’t want these people to continue to be used as human shields in the future,” the soldier said.

In this regard, Conricus pointed out that the Israeli army’s goal is to “dismantle Hamas’s entire military infrastructure” and that to this end it is trying to “temporarily clear the northern Gaza Strip of civilians in order to reduce the number of civilian casualties to minimize and reduce”. .” “That is our goal. We strive for operational freedom in order to be able to take action against Hamas,” said the IDF spokesman.

The Israeli army attacked positions of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) this Sunday and destroyed several tunnels in the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip as part of a series of operations that left “numerous deaths” among the armed group.

“On the last day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began fighting key forces in the Shati camp. As part of the activity, they discovered infrastructure and eliminated a group of terrorists,” the army reported in a message previously published on X known as Twitter.

As he explained, “the terrorists shot at the security forces during the evacuation of citizens,” so the army opened fire “to protect the evacuation” of civilians.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday that “there will be no ceasefire” in Gaza and that Israel is determined to maintain control of the Gaza Strip “for security reasons,” Israeli troops are deepening their ground offensive inside the enclave.

“If we want peace, we must eradicate Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a press conference, in which he assured that Israel sticks to its idea of ​​maintaining its military presence in Gaza and maintaining its control “for security reasons” given that “The war advances with all its might and one goal: to win.”

“As for the day after, that will not happen until Hamas is eradicated,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would not give up its security control over the Gaza Strip “under any circumstances.”

The army continues to “use aggressive fire from the air and from the ground.” Regarding the possible negotiations for the release of 240 prisoners in the Gaza Strip in the hands of the Palestinian militias, the Prime Minister stressed that if there is “something new” it will be communicated to the families, while “for now it is better to remain silent.” ” He also insisted that he would reject any offer to fire anything that doesn’t involve releasing prisoners.

He also stressed that the countries of the international community “must confront Hamas” and “not give in to pressure” from those who oppose the 36-day offensive against Gaza.

Netanyahu also expressed condolences for the deaths of five Israeli soldiers in the final hours, bringing to about 45 the number of soldiers killed since the ground attack began on October 27.

The war has resulted in more than 1,200 deaths in Israel due to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the conflict, and Israeli bombings in the enclave have left more than 11,100 dead and at least 28,000 injured.

Just today, at an emergency summit in Saudi Arabia, Arab and Islamic countries called for an end to the war and demanded that Israel be held accountable for its “massive crimes” in the enclave. Due to the almost complete siege by Israel since the beginning of the conflict, there are shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel.

The rampant humanitarian crisis is particularly exacerbated by the lack of gasoline in hospital generators, leaving most health centers almost inoperable.

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