Israel carries out an operation in the largest hospital in Gaza against Hamas and announces that it found weapons and terrorist infrastructure there | World

Israel carries out military operation on Gaza’s largest hospital

The Israeli army began a military operation on Tuesday night (14) at Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip. The unit currently has around a thousand people, including patients and people seeking shelter, according to doctors who work there.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it found Hamas weapons in the hospital and terrorist infrastructure. The operation took place due to “the continued military use of the Shifa hospital by Hamas”, according to the organization.

“IDF soldiers found weapons and other terrorist infrastructure. In the last hour, we have seen concrete evidence that Hamas terrorists used Shifa hospital as a terrorist headquarters,” an IDF official told Reuters.

The official did not specify which part of the hospital the troops were conducting the searches and did not say what was found — he stated, however, that the evidence will be presented later.

“This is an extremely precise and targeted operation. Our forces are present in a specific area of ​​the huge Shifa hospital complex,” the official said, without saying how long the operation would last.

Israel points out that Hamas has used Al-Shifa for years to cover up terrorist actions. Hamas denies it.

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said there was no confrontation inside the hospital. The terrorist group Hamas reports 30 deaths in the operation, which cannot be independently verified.

The US has stated that it does not support airstrikes or that it wants to see “fire” in hospitals. Tedros Adhanom, director of the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that the situation is “extremely worrying” and that he has lost contact with doctors there.

Israel announced that the military operation brought supplies and equipment to hospital patients and did not lead to conflicts within the unit.

Meanwhile, patients have already dug a mass grave to bury the dead, in an area considered “almost a cemetery” by the WHO.

Israel says action at hospital justified. “Hamas’ continued military use of the Shifa hospital puts its protected status under international law at risk,” the country’s army said.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, when the terrorist group carried out a surprise attack against Israel, in the most violent action against Israeli territory in the last 50 years. The country’s intelligence services were unable to anticipate that an offensive of this magnitude was being prepared.

Faced with the Hamas offensive, the Israeli government began retaliation. and on October 7, he launched bombs towards the Gaza Strip.

So far, 1,402 people have died on the Israeli side and 11,240 in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas government (the figures could not be independently verified).