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A number of martyrs and wounded fell as a result of the attack carried out by the occupation forces on Monday on the Shifa Medical Complex in northern Gaza. Israeli Army Radio said that army units took control of the complex and arrested dozens of Palestinians. The occupation army also admitted that one of its soldiers was killed during the attack.
During its raid, the Israeli army arrested Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and a number of his fellow journalists from inside the Shifa complex, after severely beating them.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that it was not possible to rescue any of the injured in the Al-Shifa Complex, due to the intensity of the fire and the targeting of anyone who approached the windows.
She added in a statement that a fire broke out at the gate of the complex, leading to suffocation cases among the displaced women and children inside.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the occupation forces carried out an operation planned days ago in the Al-Shifa Complex, and today, Monday, took control of the complex, and arrested 80 people, describing them as “saboteurs,” and indicated that “orders were issued to the militants to leave various places in the complex and surrender,” according to their claim.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari spoke earlier about the work of what he described as “senior Hamas leaders” from inside the compound to attack Israel, as he put it.
For his part, Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif reported that the Israeli occupation forces arrested displaced men and youth after storming a number of schools in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Complex, and asked the women to go to Deir Al-Balah via Al-Rashid Street. The occupation forces also besieged two other schools in the vicinity of the complex.
Scenes obtained by Al Jazeera showed the presence of Israeli vehicles and bulldozers inside the Shifa Medical Complex, and the scenes showed an Israeli vehicle closing the gate of the complex in conjunction with bulldozing operations inside the square.
Dr. Mu'nis Muhaisen, an orthopedic specialist at Al-Shifa Complex, said that hundreds of displaced people and medical staff inside the complex were trapped in the hospital's corridors amid heavy gunfire from the occupation forces.
He added in an interview with Al Jazeera from inside the complex that all departments of the hospital were completely paralyzed, threatening the lives of dozens of patients.
Convictions and claims
The government media office in Gaza condemned in the strongest terms the occupation’s storming of the Shifa complex, describing it as a blatant war crime. The office said that the attack confirms the occupation’s intention to eliminate the health sector.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza held Israel responsible for the lives of medical staff, patients and displaced persons inside the Shifa Medical Complex, and added that what the occupation forces are doing in the Shifa Medical Complex is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The Ministry called on the international community to reject the practices of the Israeli occupation in the Al-Shifa Complex, and called on international institutions to immediately go to the complex to protect it and protect everyone inside it.
Displaced people leave the vicinity of the Shifa complex following the Israeli attack (Anatolia)
In turn, the Palestinian factions in Gaza condemned in the strongest terms the continued targeting of hospitals, describing it as “a continuation of the war of extermination waged by the occupation against the Palestinian people and a flagrant violation of all international conventions and laws.”
A statement from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said, "The Israeli occupation's aggression against the Shifa complex and the ongoing war of extermination in Gaza will not achieve any victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Nazi army."
The movement called on the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and other international institutions to protect the remaining medical facilities in the Gaza Strip.
This is the second time that Israeli forces have stormed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex since the beginning of the aggression against Gaza on the 7th of last October. They stormed it for the first time on the 16th of last November after besieging it for at least a week.
At that time, the Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital, after destroying its courtyards, parts of its buildings, medical equipment and equipment, in addition to the hospital’s electricity generator.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies