The Israeli army has taken control of the Shifa hospital in Gaza City and called on Hamas members inside to leave and surrender. The military spokesperson made this known, quoted by the media. The same source said that so far 80 suspicious people have been “captured by soldiers” and that “some of these have been confirmed as operational terrorists”. The spokesperson then added “that numerous Hamas armed men were killed and wounded in firefights on the hospital grounds”.
The army had announced a “high precision” military operation in the hospital facility, the largest in the Palestinian city, following intelligence information about the presence of senior Hamas officials in the medical complex. According to witnesses, bombings occurred.
“We know that Hamas terrorists have gathered inside Al-Shifa hospital and are using it to organize attacks against Israel.” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said this in a video published on medical personnel to evacuate the healthcare facility.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, around 30,000 people, including displaced civilians, injured patients and medical staff, are trapped inside the al-Shifa medical complex. Al Jazeera reports it. “Anyone who tries to move is targeted by bullets,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.
The army, in addition to a video with images of the “shooting carried out by terrorists from the buildings of the Shifa hospital”, also released the recording of a conversation from a few days ago between the head of the IDF coordination structure and the director of Hamas health ministry in Gaza in which the Israeli military warned that “terrorists are continuing their military activity inside the hospital”.
Hamas, on the other hand, condemned Israel's continued attack on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. “The crimes of the occupation will not create any image of victory for Netanyahu and his Nazi army,” read a statement relaunched by al-Jazeera. “The crimes of the occupation express confusion and loss of hope of achieving a military outcome,” adds Hamas.
In a joint statement, the Palestinian factions said that targeting hospitals “is 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.” The Ministry of Health has launched an appeal to all international organizations to “immediately stop this (Israeli) massacre against the sick, injured, displaced people and medical staff inside al-Shifa hospital”, reports Al Jazeera. The displaced people, adds the ministry, are trapped in 2 hospital buildings. A fire broke out near the gate and cases of suffocation among women and children inside the buildings were reported. Targeting anyone who approaches windows is another crime against healthcare institutions, the ministry concludes.
Truce talks in Doha could last 2 weeks
Meanwhile, the new round of negotiations is starting in Doha to try to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and obtain the release of the hostages still held since 7 October.
After the mandate received from the Security Cabinet, an Israeli delegation left for Qatar led by Mossad chief David Barnea. According to media reports, Barnea received “a general mandate” for negotiations through mediators from Egypt and Qatar.
The talks could last two weeks, the Times of Israel reported this morning, citing an Israeli official. The timing would be determined by the difficulty that Hamas mediators in Qatar would have in communicating with the group's leaders in the besieged Gaza Strip. The aim of the talks, the official said, is to reach a six-week truce in the fighting in Gaza in exchange for the release of forty hostages.
Hamas has proposed the release of Israeli hostages who are women, including those in the Israeli Defense Forces, the elderly, the sick and the wounded. The number is around forty. Another sixty would remain in the hands of the Palestinian militia. The Islamist movement's latest demand is the release of between 700 and 1000 Palestinian prisoners. In a second phase, Hamas would release the remaining hostages, but the point on which there is no agreement concerns the possibility of Israel accepting a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of soldiers from Gaza. The government of Israel has repeatedly stated that these conditions are considered unacceptable.