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An Israeli fighter jet
Photo: Jim Hollander / UPI Photo / IMAGO
On Saturday, Israel's Chief of General Staff Herzi Ha-Levi visited Shifa Hospital with other high-ranking officers. It was an attempt at a show of force as his officers and their troops continue to fight against Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
Now it has become known: On Sunday, in addition to dozens of other targets, the military also shelled a suspected Islamic Jihad command center in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Dair al-Balah.
According to the army, members of the terrorist organization were staying there. The Hamas-controlled media office in the Gaza Strip said a tent belonging to civilians seeking shelter there had been hit; there should be dead and injured people. According to the Israeli military, the clinic itself was not damaged. None of the information could initially be independently verified.
On Saturday, the leader of the Islamic Jihad, Sijad al-Nachala, thanked Iran's leadership for their military support. Nachala is currently in Tehran for talks - as is Hamas boss Ismail Haniyyeh.
The representatives of the two militant groups met not only top politicians but also Iran's head of state and religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all strategic matters of the Islamic Republic. Tehran is considered a key supporter of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The groups are classified as terrorist organizations by the EU, the USA and Israel.
Israel accuses both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, of using medical facilities and the civilians living there as protective shields.
Accordingly, the army's deployment against extremists entrenched there continues in the Shifa Hospital. According to reports, people were killed in several of the clinic's buildings and the military spoke of terrorists.
In a stairwell, soldiers chased and exchanged fire with armed and high-ranking members of Hamas, killing them in the process. The army also found hidden weapons in the maternity ward of the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. Grenades, explosive devices and rifles were found in pillows, blankets and walls.
dop/dpa