Israel’s fight against Hamas: a first look at Al-Shifa’s Hospital, a Gazan hospital where civilians are fleeing the enemy
Al-Shifa has transformed into a focal point of Israeli military operations in recent days. As the military increases its operations in Gaza, the U.N. team is working to safely evacuate the remaining patients at the hospital.
The Israeli military has urged Palestinians in Gaza to flee further south. Evidence shows that Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire occur daily in the very areas Israel has said are “safer” for civilians. Those attacks have hit schools, residential towers and overcrowded U.N. shelters.
Israeli officials told the U.S. military that they would need more weeks of operations in the north before launching a bigger offensive in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said late Friday that its troops would continue their offensive “in every place that Hamas is, and it is in the south of the strip.”
How will Hamas be eliminated if its fighters blend into the rest of the population as they head south? How long can Israel, which lost about 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 atrocities, sustain growing international pressure for a cease-fire as civilian casualties in Gaza mount? Most immediately, was Al-Shifa an important enough military target to raid?
TEL AVIV, Israel — Piles of medical and solid waste fill the crowded corridors of Gaza’s largest hospital, according to the World Health Organization. The bodies are in a mass grave near the hospital’s entrance.
An assessment team from the UN and WHO got the first outside access Saturday to Al-ShiFA Hospital, which was in a dire state of disrepair. The team was only able to see the hospital for one hour.
In that time, they found that several patients have died in the previous two to three days due to medical services shutting down in the facility, according to the WHO. There are only 25 health workers for the 322 remaining patients, and they include premature babies in extremely critical condition.
Earlier Saturday, the IDF issued evacuation orders to the remaining 2,500 people sheltering on Al-Shifa’s hospital grounds. There were people evacuated by the U.N. team at the time they arrived, according to the WHO.
Almost 220 people were kidnapped during the attacks on Israel by Hamas. There are still discussions about a cease-fire in Gaza that would allow for people to move about safely and give hostages to Israel.
White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson disputed a report by The Washington Post that said a deal between the U.S., Israel and Hamas had been reached.