The army launched an overnight raid on the hospital
The Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Hospital Complex: “It was a battle for humanity, but Israel didn’t kill,” said Hagari
In the raid a number of people were killed and wounded in the hospital and the surrounding area, the Gazan Health Ministry said. A fire at the gate of the complex caused people to suffocate and made it difficult to get to those who were injured.
Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said in a video posted on social media early Monday that forces will conduct the operation with “caution and care” and “while ensuring the hospital continues its important functions.”
The ministry said that “Communications were cut off, and the displaced people were trapped in the emergency reception and the specialized surgery building.”
The Israeli army dropped flyers on the top of Al-Shiwa in order to get people to leave. Locals at the medical complex shared their flyers with the media.
Ms. al-Kaas, 19, said that around the same time, she heard shots and the sound of tanks before Israeli soldiers, using loudspeakers, ordered people in the complex to stay inside and close the windows. She said Israeli forces told people that they would be moved to the Al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza, although it was not immediately clear when or how they would be moved. Israel has attempted to set up a safe zone in Al-MAwasi, even though there have been little civilian settlements there.
The Israeli military would provide humanitarian aid to civilians on the ground, Hagari said in his video statement.
Hamas has denied the accusations, and Israel came under criticism from health and humanitarian organizations after storming the hospital in November. Evidence examined by The New York Times suggests Hamas did use the hospital for cover and maintained a hardened tunnel beneath it that was supplied with water, power and air-conditioning. But the Israeli military has struggled to prove that Hamas maintained a command-and-control center under the facility.
Ms. al-Kaas said that she had seen Israeli soldiers holding several people, their hands bound and clothes partially stripped off, in the courtyard of the hospital complex. The courtyard had bodies of people who were shot lying in it.
Hedaya Al Tatar, who lives about a quarter-mile from the hospital, describes hearing intensive shooting and heavy shelling at 2 a.m., along with drone strikes.
She said that the fear and terror were eating her alive and she was hiding in a corridor in one of the hospital buildings. Her voice was barely audible amid loud booms and explosions.
Israel claimed that it had killed 20 militant during the operation. The senior Hamas official in charge of internal security operations in Gaza who was hiding in the hospital was among those killed, it said. Hamas did not confirm his death or role in the organization and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At least one person was killed and several others were wounded after Israeli troops stormed the Al-Shiwa hospital complex in the Gaza Strip on Monday. “It was a battle for humanity,” a spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces said. The army said that the military will conduct the operation with “caution and care” and “while ensuring the hospital continues its important functions”.