Witnesses in Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital describe seeing gunfire during an Israeli raid

With thousands of Palestinian people still seeking refuge inside the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military declared on Wednesday that it was conducting a “raid” against Hamas fighters at Al Shifa Hospital.

More than 11,000 people are officially dead from Israeli strikes, with over 40% of those killed being minors, according to medical officials in Gaza. Countless more individuals were buried under debris.

Israeli forces had invaded the western part of the medical complex, according to Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Gaza health ministry, who made the announcement to Al Jazeera television.

#BREAKING Israel says it is carrying out an “operation” against Hamas at al-Shifa Hospital as its forces raid the health complex in Gaza City.

Israeli soldiers have entered the surgical and emergency buildings at al-Shifa Hospital.

Israel’s attacks on al-Shifa started just… pic.twitter.com/OU3CCUxFBG

— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 15, 2023

“There have been large explosions, and dust has gotten into the places we are. Bursh stated, “We think there was an explosion within the hospital.

A few hours later, Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, told Al Jazeera: “The occupation army is currently in the basement and is searching the basement.” They are shooting and detonating bombs within the compound.”

The head of hospitals for the Gaza health ministry, Mohammed Zaqout, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli commandos initially invaded the emergency and surgery rooms.

The number of calls for a humanitarian ceasefire has increased recently, and concerns about Al Shifa’s fate have grown on a global scale due to the facility’s deteriorating conditions. Thousands of patients, medical personnel, and displaced people have been trapped there for the past five weeks during the brutal Israeli assault on Gaza.

Without providing any supporting documentation, Israel asserts that Hamas maintains a command center beneath Al Shifa and exploits the hospital and tunnels there to hide military activity and detain people. The Israeli assertion is rejected by Hamas. What an Israeli military spokeswoman claimed to be a list of captives held in the hospital was actually a work calendar with days marked on it, released in a video yesterday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared in a statement that “IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa hospital, based on intelligence information and an operational necessity.”

The military went on to say: “The IDF forces include medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians.”

The US stated on Tuesday that Israel’s conclusions were corroborated by its own intelligence.

Israel Army Radio reports that there are “no indication of Israeli hostages in the raided Shifa Hospital in Gaza”. pic.twitter.com/wYcTTr8IXa

— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 15, 2023

The US announcement, according to Hamas, essentially gave Israel the “green light” to raid the hospital. According to the group, US President Joe Biden and Israel were solely accountable for the operation.

“We oppose aerial bombing of hospitals and want to prevent cross-fire between innocent bystanders, defenseless victims, and ill patients seeking the proper medical attention at a hospital. A spokesman for the White House National Security Council stated in a statement that “hospitals and patients must be protected.”

Over the last ten days, Israeli soldiers have engaged in intense street fighting with Hamas members before moving into Gaza City’s center and encircling Al Shifa.

Palestinian Authority Health Minister Mai Alkaila claimed that Israel was “committing a new crime against humanity, medical staff and patients by besieging” Al Shifa in the West Bank, a distinct Palestinian area that is not under Hamas’ control.

“We hold the occupation forces fully responsible for the lives of the medical staff, patients and displaced people in Al Shifa,” Alkaila stated in a statement.

A short distance from Gaza City’s fishing port lies the expansive complex of buildings and courtyards known as Al Shifa. The internal medicine and dialysis departments are housed in buildings on the western side of the campus, which the Gaza official claimed was the location of the raid.

According to Hamas, 650 patients and 5,000–7,000 additional civilians are imprisoned within the hospital grounds while being continuously fired upon by Israeli drones and snipers. It claims that 40 patients have passed away in the last several days due to fuel, water, and supply shortages.

Thirty-six infants remain in the neonatal ward following the deaths of three. The infants were arranged eight to a bed in order to keep them as warm as possible because there was not enough fuel for generators to run incubators.

According to Qidra, a spokesman for Gaza’s health ministry, despite Israel’s announcement that it would deliver portable incubators, Palestinians imprisoned in the hospital dug a mass grave on Tuesday to bury patients who had passed away. No plan was in place to transport babies.

There were roughly a hundred corpses inside, according to Qidra, and there was no way to remove them.

According to his spokesperson, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was extremely troubled by the “dramatic loss of life” in the hospitals. The spokesperson informed reporters, “The secretary-general calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the name of humanity.”

Approximately two thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants are now without a place to live since they are unable to flee the region, which is rapidly running out of fresh water, food, fuel, and medical supplies.

UN human rights officials have stated that Israel’s approach to Shifa Hospital has sparked concerns about how it would interpret international regulations on the protection of medical institutions and the thousands of displaced persons taking refuge there.

Buildings that are hospitals are protected by international humanitarian law.

Israel gave the Gaza authorities 12 hours to stop their military operations inside the hospital, according to a statement it released on Wednesday. “Sadly, it didn’t,” the statement from the military stated.