The Israeli military says its forces have entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital, the site of a lengthy standoff. The army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas, claiming the militant group conceals military operations in the hospital complex. The Israeli military seized broader control of northern Gaza on Tuesday, including capturing the territory’s legislature building and its police headquarters, in gains that carried high symbolic value in the country’s quest to crush the ruling Hamas militant group.
Quick Read
- Israeli Forces Enter Shifa Hospital in Gaza: The Israeli military has entered Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, a site previously surrounded during their ground offensive against Hamas.
- Claims of Hamas’ Use of Hospital: The Israeli army alleges that Hamas conceals military operations within the hospital complex.
- Targeted Military Operation: The army is conducting “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas” in a specific area of the hospital, aiming to minimize civilian harm.
- Warnings to Gaza Authorities: The Israeli military had warned authorities in Gaza to cease all military activities within the hospital, but claims the warning was not heeded.
- Hamas Denies Using Hospital for Military Purposes: Hamas has refuted Israeli accusations of using the hospital as a cover for its military operations.
- Israeli Defense Ministry’s Plan to Storm Al-Shifa Hospital: The Israeli defense ministry has notified the Palestinian ministry of health about its preparations to storm Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip, a move considered highly risky due to the presence of approximately 7,500 people, including patients, doctors, and displaced individuals.
- Warning to Hospital Occupants: Those inside the hospital have been advised to stay away from windows, doors, and gates in anticipation of the Israeli special forces’ operation.
- Objective of Storming Al-Shifa Hospital: The Israeli forces aim to target specific areas within the hospital believed to house Hamas military command centers.
- Israeli Military’s Broader Control in Northern Gaza: In addition to the planned operation at Al-Shifa Hospital, the Israeli military has gained control over significant areas in northern Gaza, including the legislature building and police headquarters, marking symbolic victories against Hamas.
- Israeli Military Control in Northern Gaza: The Israeli military has taken control of key areas in northern Gaza, including the legislature building and police headquarters, marking significant symbolic victories against Hamas.
- Palestinian Call for Cease-Fire: Palestinian authorities are urging a cease-fire to evacuate patients, including newborns, trapped in Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, amid nearby fighting.
- Celebration by Israeli Soldiers: Israeli soldiers celebrated their gains by holding up flags inside captured buildings, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declaring Hamas’ loss of control in northern Gaza.
- Extended Duration of War Expected: Despite the recent gains, Gallant indicated that the conflict is expected to last several months.
- Israeli Forces’ Strategic Gains: Israeli forces near Shifa Hospital have captured various government and residential buildings, finding weapons and eliminating Hamas fighters.
- Debate Over Hospital’s Use: Israel claims that Hamas uses Shifa Hospital for military purposes, a claim denied by hospital staff and Hamas.
- Dire Conditions at Shifa Hospital: The hospital is facing severe shortages, with patients and staff trapped inside and a mass grave dug for over 120 bodies.
- Casualty Figures in Gaza: Over 11,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the conflict, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
- Displacement and Deteriorating Conditions: A large portion of Gaza’s population has moved to the southern region of the territory, where conditions continue to worsen.
- UNRWA’s Warning on Humanitarian Operations: The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that its operations, including aid distribution, are at risk due to fuel shortages.
- Evacuation Proposal for Shifa Hospital: The Palestinian Health Ministry has proposed evacuating Shifa Hospital with international supervision, but has not received a response.
- U.S. Intelligence on Hamas Operations: The U.S. claims to have intelligence that Hamas uses hospitals and tunnels for military operations and to hold hostages.
- Video of Hostage Released by Hamas: Hamas released a video of a 19-year-old hostage killed in an alleged Israeli strike, with Israel later declaring her a fallen soldier.
- March for Hostages in Israel: Families and supporters of hostages held by Hamas began a protest march in Israel, demanding more government action to secure their release.
- Conditions in Gaza City: Independent reporting from Gaza City is limited, but Israeli military sources claim significant progress in overtaking areas and targeting Hamas fighters.
- Israeli Military’s Urban Warfare: Videos released by the Israeli military show troops engaging in urban warfare, dismantling Hamas’ tunnel network, and encountering resistance.
- Casualties and Rocket Fire: Israel reports killing thousands of Hamas fighters and losing 46 soldiers, while recent Hamas rocket attacks into Israel have decreased.
The Associated Press has the story:
Israel says it is carrying out “Precise & targeted operation” inside Gaza’s Shifa hospital
Newslooks- KHAN YOUNIS, JERUSALEM — Gaza Strip (AP)
The Israeli military says its forces have entered Gaza’s Shifa hospital, the site of a lengthy standoff. The army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas, claiming the militant group conceals military operations in the hospital complex. But with hundreds of patients and medical personnel inside, it had refrained from entering. Early Wednesday, the army said its forces were carrying out “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area” in the hospital. It gave no further details but said it was taking steps to avoid harm to civilians. In a statement, the Israeli military said it had warned “the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours. Unfortunately, it did not.” Hamas has denied the Israeli accusations that it uses the hospital for cover.
Israeli defense ministry informed the Palestinian ministry of health in the Gaza Strip that they are starting to prepare for storming al-Shifa Hospital. This step is considered to be very risky and dangerous as inside the hospital there are around 7,500 Palestinians including patients, doctors and displaced people. They have informed them that they are going to storm the hospital, recommending that patients and everyone stay away from windows and doors and the gates of the hospital due to the Israeli special forces readiness to storm this medical complex. They say that they are going to target some specific areas of al-Shifa hospital in order to destroy some Hamas military command centers inside this hospital.
Meanwhile, Palestinian authorities called for a cease-fire to evacuate three dozen newborns and other patients trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital as Israeli forces battled Hamas in the streets just outside.
Inside some of the captured buildings, soldiers held up the Israeli flag and military flags in celebration. In a nationally televised news conference, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas had “lost control” of northern Gaza and that Israel made significant gains in Gaza City.
But asked about the time frame for the war, Gallant said: “We’re talking about long months, not a day or two.”
One Israeli commander in Gaza, identified only as Lt. Col. Gilad, said in a video that his forces near Shifa Hospital had seized government buildings, schools and residential buildings where they found weapons and eliminated fighters.
The army said it had captured the legislature, the Hamas police headquarters and a compound housing Hamas’ military intelligence headquarters. The buildings are powerful symbols, but their strategic value was unclear. Hamas fighters are believed to be positioned in underground bunkers.
For days, the Israeli army has encircled Shifa Hospital, the facility it says Hamas hides in, and beneath, to use civilians as shields for its main command base. Hospital staff and Hamas deny the claim.
Hundreds of patients, staff and displaced people were trapped inside, with supplies dwindling and no electricity to run incubators and other lifesaving equipment. After days without refrigeration, morgue staff on Tuesday dug a mass grave in the yard for more than 120 bodies, officials said.
Israel has vowed to end Hamas rule in Gaza after the militants’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel in which they killed some 1,200 people and took roughly 240 hostages. The Israeli government has acknowledged it doesn’t know what it will do with the territory after Hamas’ defeat.
The onslaught — one of the most intense bombardments so far this century — has been disastrous for Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians.
More than 11,200 people, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah. About 2,700 people have been reported missing. The ministry’s count does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.
Almost the entire population of Gaza has squeezed into the southern two-thirds of the tiny territory, where conditions have been deteriorating even as bombardment there continues. About 200,000 fled the north in recent days, the U.N. said Tuesday, though tens of thousands are believed to remain.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday that its fuel storage facility in Gaza is empty and that it will soon end relief operations, including bringing limited supplies of food and medicine in from Egypt for more than 600,000 people sheltering in schools and other facilities in the south.
“Without fuel, the humanitarian operation in Gaza is coming to an end. Many more people will suffer and will likely die,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA. Israel has repeatedly rejected allowing fuel into Gaza, saying it will be diverted by Hamas for military use.
PLIGHT OF HOSPITALS
Fighting has raged for days around Shifa Hospital, a complex several city blocks across at the center of Gaza City that has now “turned into a cemetery,” its director said in a statement.
The Health Ministry said 40 patients, including three babies, have died since Shifa’s emergency generator ran out of fuel Saturday. Another 36 babies are at risk of dying because there is no power for incubators, according to the ministry.
The Israeli military said it started an effort to transfer incubators to Shifa. But they would be useless without electricity, said Christian Lindmeier, a World Health Organization spokesman.
The Health Ministry has proposed evacuating the hospital with the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross and transferring the patients to hospitals in Egypt, but has not received any response, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said.
While Israel says it is willing to allow staff and patients to evacuate, some Palestinians who have made it out say Israeli forces have fired at evacuees.
Israel says its claims of a Hamas command center in and beneath Shifa are based on intelligence, but it has not provided visual evidence to support them. Denying the claims, the Gaza Health Ministry says it has invited international organizations to investigate the facility.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday it had evacuated remaining patients, doctors and displaced families from another Gaza City hospital, Al-Quds, “after more than 10 days of siege, during which medical and humanitarian supplies were prevented from reaching the hospital.”
In a post on X, it blamed the Israeli army for bombarding the hospital and firing at those inside.
The White House’s national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said the U.S. has unspecified intelligence that Hamas and another Palestinian militants use Shifa and other hospitals and tunnels underneath them to support military operations and hold hostages.
The intelligence is based on multiple sources, and the U.S. independently collected the information, a U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Kirby said the U.S. doesn’t support airstrikes on hospitals and does not want to see “a firefight in a hospital where innocent people” are trying to get care.MARCH FOR HOSTAGES
Hamas released a video late Monday showing one of the hostages, 19-year-old Noa Marciano, before and after she was killed in what Hamas said was an Israeli strike. The military later declared her a fallen soldier, without identifying a cause of death.
She is the first hostage confirmed to have died in captivity. Four were released by Hamas and a fifth was rescued by Israeli forces.
Families and supporters of the around 240 people being held hostage by Hamas started a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The plight of the hostages has dominated public discourse since the Oct. 7 attack, with solidarity protests held across the country. The marchers, who expect to reach Jerusalem on Saturday, say the government must do more to bring home their loved-ones.
“Where are you?” Shelly Shem Tov, whose son, Omer, 21, is among the captives, called out to Netanyahu.
“We have no strength anymore. We have no strength. Bring back our children and our families home.”
BATTLE IN GAZA CITY
Independent accounts of the fighting in Gaza City have been nearly impossible to gather, as communications to the north have largely collapsed.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces have completed the takeover of Shati refugee camp, a densely built district bordering Gaza City’s center, and are moving about freely in the city as a whole.
Videos released by the Israeli military show troops moving through the city, firing into buildings. Bulldozers push down structures as tanks roll through streets surrounded by partially collapsed towers.
The videos portray a battle where troops are rooting out pockets of Hamas fighters and tearing down buildings they find them in, while gradually dismantling the group’s tunnel network.
Israel says it has killed several thousand fighters, including important mid-level commanders, while 46 of its own soldiers have been killed in Gaza. In recent days Hamas rocket fire into Israel — constant throughout the war — has waned, though two people were wounded Tuesday in a rocket attack on Tel Aviv. Details of the Israeli account and the extent of Hamas losses could not be independently confirmed.
UN Security Council works on new ‘Humanitarian Pauses’ resolution in Gaza
Newslooks- UNITED NATIONS (AP)
The U.N. Security Council is negotiating a new resolution that demands “immediate extended humanitarian pauses” throughout the Gaza Strip but makes no mention of a cease-fire.
The resolution, drafted by Malta, does demand that “all parties” comply with their obligations under international law.
The Security Council has rejected four resolutions on the war, and many of its 15 members have said they don’t want a vote on a new resolution unless it’s going to be approved.
The draft, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, says the pauses should be “for a sufficient number of days” to open humanitarian corridors and enable unhindered access for U.N., Red Cross and other aid workers to get water, electricity, fuel, food and medical supplies to those in need as well as to repair essential infrastructure and enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts.
ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL ALLOW FUEL SHIPMENTS INTO GAZA FOR HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS
JERUSALEM — Israeli defense officials say they have agreed to allow fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian operations.
It is the first time that Israel has allowed fuel into the besieged territory since the Hamas militant group’s bloody cross-border invasion on Oct. 7.
Israel declared war and barred fuel shipments after the attack, saying Hamas would divert supplies for military use. But fuel shortages have crippled operations at Gaza hospitals, which run on generators, and hindered the U.N. from delivering humanitarian aid.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian affairs, announced early Wednesday that it would allow U.N. trucks to refill at the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border later Wednesday. It said the decision was in response to a request from the U.S. But it gave no details on when the shipments are to be delivered, other than to say it’s allowing 24,000 liters (6,240 gallons) of fuel into Gaza.
UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, had warned late Tuesday that its fuel-storage facility in Gaza had run dry and that it would soon be forced to halt operations.
PROTESTS AT ISRAELI PARLIAMENT DEMAND NETANYAHU RESIGN
JERUSALEM — Several hundred protesters gathered outside the Israeli parliament on Tuesday night to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he is unfit for office.
The protesters carried signs blaming Netanyahu for the Oct. 7 attack that left at least 1,200 people killed.
“Go, go, go!” the protester chanted.
“Any moment that our prime minister is in his role is dangerous for the citizens, for the soldiers, and he needs to quit and let us win the war and reunite our people,” said protester Nir Weintroub.
