Israeli Forces Storm Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital for 4th Time
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israeli forces have stormed al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and opened fire inside, resulting in deaths and injuries, according to officials.
Footage shows dozens of Palestinians fleeing the compound, where hundreds of displaced people, patients and medical staff have been sheltering.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health has released a statement saying that it holds Israel responsible for the lives of medical staff, patients and displaced people inside al-Shifa, adding that the operations are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
The Times of Israel, citing the Israeli military, reports that the military has taken control of al-Shifa Hospital and detained 80 people.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s siege of the hospital is threatening the lives of hundreds of displaced people, patients and medical staff sheltering there. It says anyone who flees the facility is being targeted by “sniper bullets and quadrocopter”, in an assault it describes as a “massacre against the sick, the wounded, the displaced”.
The Israeli military claims that gunmen opened fire on them from inside al-Shifa Hospital.
“During the encirclement, terrorists opened fire from within the hospital compound at our forces, who returned fire and hit the terrorists. Our forces continue to operate in the area of the hospital,” it claimed in a statement.
Israeli forces have besieged the hospital after claiming they hold “concrete evidence” that Palestinian resistance fighters are operating from inside the medical facility in northern Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has called on all international organizations to “immediately stop this [Israeli] massacre against the sick, the wounded, the displaced, and the medical staff inside al-Shifa Hospital”.
Displaced people are trapped inside the specialized surgery building and in the emergency reception in Building 8 of al-Shifa.
A fire broke out at the gate and cases of suffocation occurred among the displaced women and children inside.
Targeting anyone who approaches the windows is another crime against health institutions.
Israeli forces besieged and raided Gaza’s largest hospital again in the early hours of Monday.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said heavily armed Israeli troops, accompanied by drones and tanks, launched the offensive in the early hours of dawn on Monday and began shooting inside the complex.
This is Israel’s fourth attack on the hospital since October 7.
The Israeli military says it is conducting a “precise operation” in al-Shifa Hospital, claiming that Hamas has regrouped and is using the medical facility to launch attacks.
Israeli army vehicles are stationed inside the hospital’s courtyard, as its forces launched missiles and opened fire at the hospital’s specialized surgery building.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, some 30,000 people – including displaced civilians, wounded patients and medical staff – are trapped inside the hospital amid Israel’s onslaught.
“What the occupation forces are doing is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” the ministry said, adding that there are a “number of martyrs and wounded”.
In a message in English on Telegram, the Gaza’s Health Ministry said the raid, which began at 2am local time (00:00 GMT) has resulted in a “number of martyrs and wounded”.
