Israel attacks Al Shifa hospital after days of siege and orders evacuation of areas in southern Gaza

“Remember when they told us we wouldn't invade Gaza? We did.”. They told us we would not reach Gaza City. We arrived. They told us that we would not enter Al Shifa. We go in”. After several days of siege at the Al Shifa hospital, Israeli troops are already inside the facilities. This has been confirmed by the Israeli Prime Minister himself, Benjamin Netanyahu, who wanted to remind from a training base in Zikim, near the Gaza border, that his Army is fulfilling its promises.. The siege on Gaza is getting tighter every day and this Wednesday Israel asked to evacuate some communities in the south of the Strip; where hundreds of thousands of people take refuge.

According to Tel Aviv, Israeli soldiers carried out a “selective operation” inside the hospital.. According to Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli Army, the troops “found explosive devices and terrorist cells” and confronted Hamas members whom they opened to death.. During the days of siege, clashes had occurred in the vicinity of the health center, since, according to Israel, the Islamist group has a command center in the hospital. At the moment they have only acknowledged having found weapons, although they assure that in the next few hours they will bring to light evidence that will demonstrate their use by Hamas, including a network of underground tunnels.

For its part, Hamas denies having used the hospital and claims that this narrative “backed by the White House” has led to “a new massacre against civilians.” The press office of the Gaza Government, controlled by the Islamist group, has assured that Israeli troops entered with tanks, explosives, drones and heavily armed soldiers, “shooting inside”, which constitutes a “war crime.”. The general director of Health hospitals, Mohamed Zaqout, has indicated that the soldiers interrogated several hospital doctors “for hours” in side rooms and opened fire on those who left the complex.

The information coming out of the hospital is scarce and Israel's block on the entry of international media complicates verification from the field.. Palestinian media indicate that at least 200 people would be detained, including medical personnel and evacuees. Furthermore, the director of the Al Shifa medical complex, Mohamed Abu Salmiya, states that the Israeli Army is deployed in several buildings on the compound, including the dialysis department; and that medical staff cannot access the pharmacy to supply medications to patients, since “the occupation shoots at everything that moves.”

Al Shifa hospital ran out of electricity, drinking water and food days ago. It is estimated that there are about 2,000 displaced people and 650 patients, including 22 in intensive care and 36 premature babies.. Precisely this Wednesday morning, the Israeli Army shared photographs and videos delivering “incubators, baby food and medical supplies”. Likewise, its broadcast channels have claimed to have facilitated hospital evacuations.. Something that Hamas denies.

They ask to evacuate areas of the south of the Strip

While this is happening in the capital of Gaza, in the south about 2 million people are taking refuge from the ground offensive. Many of them had moved there at the request of Israel. This has not prevented daily Israeli bombings in this area; and this Wednesday the Jewish State has requested for the first time since the war began the evacuation of some communities in the south.

“For their safety, they must immediately evacuate their place of residence and go to known shelters,” the Army urged in leaflets dropped by air addressed to the eastern communities of the Khan Younis governorate: Al Qarara, Khuzaa, Bani Suheila and Abasan.

In one of the most densely populated places in the world, finding shelter has become almost impossible.. In addition, Palestinians living in Gaza cannot leave the Strip, since the borders are closed.. The only ones who have managed to escape from the enclave have been foreigners or people with dual nationality.. In fact, this Wednesday the third group of Spanish-Palestinians left through the Rafah crossing towards Egypt, made up of 29 people.. With these Spaniards on their way to Cairo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have considered the operation completed. In total there have been 143 evacuees from Gaza.

A 10-point plan to stop the conflict

The Israeli bombings – which began on October 7 after a massive attack by Hamas that left around 1,400 Israelis dead and 240 kidnapped – have caused more than 11,300 deaths and 29,200 injuries, according to the Islamist organization itself.. The humanitarian situation has become critical and the head of United Nations Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, presented this Wednesday a ten-point plan to put an end to what he considers “carnage.”

Some of the points of the document are to facilitate the efforts of aid agencies to deliver a continuous flow of aid convoys safely; open additional border crossings for the entry of commercial and aided trucks, including Kerem Shalom; and allow the UN, other humanitarian organizations and public and private entities to access fuel in sufficient quantities to deliver aid and provide basic services.

Likewise, Griffiths has called for “expanding the number of safe shelters for displaced people in schools and other public facilities in Gaza, as well as ensuring that they are safe areas during hostilities.” Finally, he called for “a humanitarian ceasefire to allow basic services and trade to restart.”

In this sense, the UN Security Council approved this Wednesday for the first time a resolution to establish pauses and humanitarian corridors.. The resolution had 12 votes in favor and three abstentions (United States, United Kingdom and Russia). The resolution calls for these pauses to last a “sufficient number of days” to allow organizations to enter with “a sufficient and unimpeded supply of essential goods and services.”. The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, has called the decision “regrettable” and has accused the UN of being “disconnected from reality”. “Hamas will not even read the resolution, much less abide by it,” he said.