Israeli forces enter Al Shifa, claiming it is a Hamas stronghold
Israeli forces searched Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza. Some videos with blurred faces were provided to USA TODAY by the IDF.
Palestinians who fled the northern Gaza Strip on orders from the Israeli military are now being warned to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza Strip, a turn in the war that threatens to deepen the severe humanitarian crisis already unfolding in the embattled enclave .
Residents and journalists said the Israeli military dropped leaflets near the southern town of Khan Younis calling on people to evacuate and that anyone found near Hamas militants was “putting their life in danger.” “. Similar leaflets were dropped throughout the northern Gaza Strip in the weeks before Israel’s ground assault began. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled attacks in northern Gaza have overcrowded their homes and UN shelters in the south.
According to the United Nations, at least 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced by the war. They remain trapped in a 140-square-mile area where much of the infrastructure has been bombed since Israel began its offensive on October 7, the day a brutal attack by Hamas militants devastated Israeli border communities and stunned the world offset.
According to Israel, more than 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage by militants that day. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since then.
Hamas in the hospital: Israel says weapons on video “fully confirm” Gaza hospital is a Hamas stronghold
Developments:
∎ Laptops seized by Israeli troops during their raid on Gaza’s Shifa Hospital contained photos and videos of some of the more than 240 hostages taken by militants, the Israeli military told a BBC News team who granted access to the hospital .
∎ Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was not working and called on him to resign: “Netanyahu must go now while the fighting is taking place.”
∎ According to the Israeli military, Israel took control of Gaza’s port from Hamas, which had been using the port as a training facility for naval commandos. According to the military, 10 tunnel shafts and four buildings “used for terrorist purposes” were destroyed and 10 militants were killed.
Israeli warplanes bombed the home of Hamas politburo chairman Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, the Israeli military said. The military shared video of warplanes bombing the building. Israel says it is part of Hamas’ military infrastructure and a meeting point for senior Hamas leaders to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel. The fate of Haniyeh, one of Hamas’ most senior officials, was not immediately announced.
The United Arab Emirates announced plans to build three desalination plants in the Gaza Strip. The resulting 600,000 gallons of water daily could provide about 300,000 gallons of water, the UAE Defense Ministry said, but did not say when the plants would come online.
The announcement came on the same day that the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a report warning that Gaza was facing a severe water crisis. Israeli bombing destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, including its water system. The office said 55% of Gaza’s water supply systems are in urgent need of repair.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and other senior officials in the Biden-Harris administration met with leaders of national Muslim, Arab and Sikh organizations on Wednesday to discuss measures to combat the rise of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and hateful threats in schools and on college campuses. Earlier this month, the White House announced that the Biden-Harris administration would develop the first national strategy to combat Islamophobia.
Contribution: The Associated Press