Gaza’s Health Ministry, controlled by the extremist group Hamas, accused the Israeli army this Wednesday of attacking medical staff and displaced persons at Al Shifa hospital, which it had attacked in recent hours.
‘We take the occupancy into account [Israel] responsible for the lives of our patients, medical staff and displaced persons”stated the general director of hospitals, Mohamed Zaqout, quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
Israel said the Hamas command center is located in tunnels beneath Al Shiha hospital, the largest in Gaza, and announced that it today launched a precision operation in part of the complex.
Zaqout said soldiers interrogated several hospital doctors in side wards for hours and opened fire on those leaving the hospital complex.
According to the same source, there were about 2,000 displaced people and 650 patients, including 22 in intensive care and 36 premature babies, in hospital.
Palestinian media reported that at least 200 people were detained, including medical staff and displaced persons.
The hospital’s director, Mohamed Abu Salmiya, reported that the Israeli army remained stationed in several buildings in the complex, including the dialysis unit.
He also said medical staff could not access the pharmacy to dispense medicine to patients because soldiers were “shooting at everything that moves”.
Abu Salmiya said there was no water, electricity or oxygen in any department of the hospital.
He also said he was unable to contact many doctors to find out more about the patients’ conditions, “particularly premature babies”.
“The smell of death is everywhere, from the emergency room to the last hospital building,” he said.
The press service of the Gaza government, controlled by Hamas, said the Israeli army entered Al Shifa with tanks, explosives, drones and heavily armed soldiers.
“The occupying army fired into the complex, causing fear and panic among the wounded, sick and displaced, a war crime that adds to the black record,” he said in a statement.
A senior Israeli army official denied that fighting took place inside the hospital, but only outside it, resulting in the deaths of “four terrorists”.
The same source, quoted by EFE, emphasized that troops operated slowly in the hospital, “precisely to minimize damage to innocent civilians”.
The military official said weapons and evidence have been found, which will be revealed in the coming hours, proving that the hospital was used as a Hamas command center, including a network of underground tunnels.
The information disclosed by the two parties cannot be immediately independently verified.
Source: DN
