In a campaign that heightened international concern over the plight of people inside, Israeli soldiers discovered a command centre, weapons, and battle gear belonging to Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza’s largest hospital on Wednesday, according to Israel’s military.
Israeli soldiers reported that tunnels beneath Al Shifa Hospital served as the “beating heart” of Hamas fighters’ activities, making it the main objective of their raid into Gaza City. On Wednesday, Hamas rejected the Israeli accusations as “lies and cheap propaganda” and refuted the accusation.
After days of fighting surrounding the hospital, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari claimed that the forces were still looking for. They had entered the building early on Wednesday.
Concurrently, the military unveiled a film purporting to display various artefacts they retrieved from a medical complex building, such as automatic firearms, explosives, ammo, and flak jackets.
An Israeli military statement claimed that in one hospital section “the soldiers located an operational command centre and technological assets belonging to Hamas, indicating that the terrorist organisation uses the hospital for terrorist purposes.”
Israel has long maintained that the hospital is located atop a Hamas headquarters; on Tuesday, the US indicated that its own information backed up this claim.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a statement, “There is no place in Gaza that we cannot reach. There are no hideouts,” praising the arrival of his soldiers to the hospital. “We will reach and eliminate Hamas and we will bring back our hostages. These are two sacred missions,” he said.
Tension in the hospital
Israel said that on Wednesday, its forces had killed terrorists outside the hospital after entering the premises. They said that once inside, there had been no altercation with patients, workers, or civilians and no fighting.
Speaking to Reuters from within the facility, witnesses described a sometimes tense scene as Israeli forces moved between buildings. Although there were allegations of gunfire on occasion, no one was ever injured on the property.
The Israeli military published images of a soldier next to cardboard cartons labelled “baby food” and “medical supplies” at a site inside Al Shifa. Additional images revealed Israeli soldiers moving past improvised tents and beds in a tactical configuration.
UN sought humanitarian pauses
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council demanded that Israel and Hamas terrorists cease their hostilities immediately and for a “sufficient number of days” to allow for the delivery of humanitarian goods. It also demanded the unconditional and prompt release of every captive that Hamas was holding. Last month, the 15-member council resolved a deadlock after four tries to act.
Thus far, Israel has turned down requests for a truce, claiming that doing so would help Hamas—a stance that Washington supports. However, in talks brokered by Qatar to free some of the hostages held by Hamas, a cease-fire has been mooted.
According to a person with knowledge of the discussions, Qatari mediators were attempting to reach an agreement that would include Israel releasing some women and youngsters from its security prisoners and Hamas releasing fifty of its captives in exchange for a three-day ceasefire.
According to the official, Israel had not agreed to the details of the agreement and was still negotiating them with Hamas.
