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.
An Israeli army corporal held by Hamas was killed by his captives and not by an Israeli airstrike as the militants claimed, the Israeli military said.
Hamas says the Nov. 9 airstrike killed Cpl. Noa Marciano, a 19-year-old whose body was recovered in Gaza last week. However, Israel says a militant who held Marciano and was captured during the militants’ rampage through Israeli border communities on October 7 was killed and Marciano was injured when the airstrike hit an apartment near Shifa Hospital.
“The pathology report states that Noa was injured by the attack, but not critically, and this contradicts the lies published by Hamas,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said late Sunday. “According to intelligence information, Noa was taken to the walls of Shifa Hospital, where she was murdered by a Hamas terrorist.”
The Israeli military said it offered its “sincere condolences” to the Marciano family and would continue to support them as it works to return more than 200 hostages believed to be held by militants in Gaza.
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Developments:
∎ Israel said it found a 60-meter-long tunnel about 30 feet beneath Shifa Hospital, claiming it was further evidence that Hamas maintained a compound beneath the 20-acre hospital site.
∎ The Israeli military said its airstrikes killed three Hamas commanders and destroyed a weapons depot where they were hiding.
∎ The World Health Organization, which has evacuated some patients and staff from the embattled Shifa hospital in recent days, said it remains deeply concerned about the safety and health needs of more than 250 patients and 20 remaining health workers. There are plans to evacuate them, the WHO said in a statement.
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Several relatives of the hostages held by Hamas urged their release at a news conference in London on Monday. The Irish father of Emily Hand, who turned nine on Friday, pleaded for her release. Emily Hand was initially feared dead following the Oct. 7 attack on Kibbutz Be’eri in Israel.
“It’s a nightmare, an absolute nightmare,” said Thomas Hand. “The sheer terror of a 9-year-old girl in these dark tunnels, never seeing the light of day.” Pure terror, panic at every hour, every day.”
He said he was praying for his daughter’s return, but said his family had received virtually no information about the progress of talks to release the prisoners. Officials in Qatar said a deal was imminent that would lead to the release of some hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire
“I don’t know what condition she will be in, but she will be broken, very broken, mentally and physically,” Thomas Hand said of his daughter. “And we need to fix that.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday lamented the “unprecedented” loss of civilian lives, including thousands of children, as Israel expanded its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
“This is what matters,” Guterres said at a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York. “We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unprecedented and unprecedented in any conflict” since he became secretary-general in 2017.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, around 13,000 Palestinian deaths have occurred since the war began on October 7, including at least 5,500 children. Guterres said it was critical that the world seize the opportunity of the tragedy in Gaza to create a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis.
The Israeli military released several videos showing Hamas militants “forcibly transporting hostages” to Shifa Hospital on October 7, the day Hamas militants captured them during the rampage that left more than 1,200 people dead. The military said the videos showed a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian being abducted from Israeli territory. In one of the videos, a person is dragged through a hospital hallway; another shows a bleeding person on a stretcher. Israeli vehicles that were stolen during the attack could also be seen on the hospital grounds, the military said.
“These findings add to previous evidence that Hamas is systematically and continuously using the hospital grounds as infrastructure for its terrorist activities,” the military said.
WHO chief “horrified” by attack on another hospital in Gaza
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said he was “appalled” by an attack on an Indonesian hospital in Gaza that reportedly left 12 people dead, including patients, and several serious and life-threatening injuries. Heavy fighting broke out around the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza as Israel continues to expand its offensive in the enclave. The hospital is located about five miles east of Shifa Hospital, which has been the focus of a major Israeli attack for several days. Israel accused Hamas of using the hospital grounds to hide militants and weapons, a claim Hamas denied.
“Health workers and civilians should never be subjected to such horror, especially in a hospital,” Tedros said in one Social media post.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is facing backlash in the Arab world over his comments on Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, which are seen as a double standard. Borrell was asked by Al Jazeera whether he believed Israel’s attack constituted a war crime.
“Well, I’m not a lawyer, but there is an International Court of Justice investigating the matter and I will abide by its decision,” Borrell said.
When specifically asked whether the October 7 Hamas attack was a war crime, Borrell replied that it was a war crime. When asked why he was willing to condemn Hamas but not Israel, Borrell denied using a double standard but acknowledged that “you’re right, we should let the International Criminal Court decide.” The interview was published in the It was widely shared on social media and sparked outrage among some Palestinians.
Darine Dandachly from Lebanon Posted that “You are not a lawyer, but an accomplice in the genocide of the Palestinians.” Another social media post from #UncensorPalestine said: “There you have it. Blatant demonstration of racism and double standards.”
Contribution: The Associated Press