Army storms hospital
Israel: Hamas weapons and headquarters found in Al-Shifa clinic
Updated on November 15, 2023 – 9:10 p.m. Reading time: 5 min.
Israeli soldiers in Gaza: A commando entered the Al-Shifa hospital compound. (Source: Reuters)
Israeli soldiers have moved into the largest hospital in Gaza. They call on Hamas terrorists in the building to surrender. According to Israeli sources, several Hamas terrorists have been killed.
Israeli troops entered Al-Shifa Hospital on Wednesday night. According to the Israeli military leadership, these were targeted actions in some parts of the building complex.
Israel suspects that Hamas leadership’s premises are located beneath the hospital. The members of the terrorist organization were asked to leave the building and surrender. The Israeli military has now announced that it killed several fighters from the radical Islamic terrorist organization Hamas at the beginning of the storming.
“Before our soldiers entered the hospital, they were confronted with explosive devices and groups of terrorists. Fights ensued in which terrorists were killed,” the military said. Israeli army radio reported five deaths. Weapons were also found in the clinic building. Hamas denies this.
Israel’s army finds weapons and operations center
According to a spokesman, Israel’s army found weapons. The operation in the clinic is still ongoing, said army spokesman Daniel Hagari on Wednesday evening. A room with special technology and combat equipment from the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas was found in a department of the clinic, he said. A Hamas operations center was discovered in another department. The findings “clearly prove that Shifa was used for military purposes, in complete contradiction to international law,” Hagari said. The operation will continue as long as necessary.
“Shifa is a symbol, none of the Hamas leadership could have imagined that we would get there,” said Hagari. After the massacre on October 7th, 200 Hamas terrorists who were involved in the atrocities were accommodated there.
Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus showed in a video a bag containing an assault rifle, ammunition, hand grenades and a uniform hidden behind an MRI machine. Other weapons were found in another closet, he explained. One piece of equipment was labeled with the name of Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. Numerous intelligence-relevant information was also found. All finds are currently being thoroughly examined.
The army’s information could not initially be independently verified. Hamas denied the reports as a “blatant lie and farce.”
Reports of explosion in hospital
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, Israeli troops stormed the western part of the Al-Shifa hospital medical complex. “There are large explosions and dust in the areas where we are. We believe there was also an explosion in the hospital,” said Munir Al-Bursch, the authority’s director general.
According to a reporter from the pro-government Turkish news channel TRT World, Israeli soldiers have taken over the hospital’s two main buildings, the emergency room and the special surgery clinic. The army is now searching the basement of the complex, where they suspect the Hamas base is.
Doctor: Hours of gunfire
The spokesman for the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, Ashraf al-Kidra, describes the situation this way: “The occupying army is now in the basement and is searching it. They are inside the complex, shooting and throwing explosives.” The information could not be independently verified. There were no further details about the operation from the Israeli side until morning.
Meanwhile, a doctor working at the clinic reported to the Washington Post that there was heavy fighting in the hospital. There were hours of gunfire and bombardment, Ahmed Muchallalati told the US newspaper. He saw Israeli tanks near the clinic complex. “We don’t know what their plan is.” He still wants to try to continue to care for the patients.
