The Ministry of Health of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip announced on Thursday that the Israeli army deployed bulldozers to Al-Shifa Hospital, which is suspected of being used as a military site for the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement.
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The ministry announced in a brief statement in Arabic that “occupation bulldozers destroyed parts of the southern entrance” to the hospital. In response to a question from Agence France-Presse, the Israeli army indicated that an operation was taking place at the site of this hospital.
“Tonight we are carrying out a targeted operation in Al-Shifa Hospital,” he said. “We continue to move forward,” Major General Yaron Finkelman, who is in charge of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, said on the Israeli army’s Telegram channel.
The army carried out an operation in the main hospital in Gaza on Wednesday before withdrawing its soldiers and tanks, which sparked serious international concern and criticism.
According to the United Nations, there are about 2,300 people, including patients, caregivers and displaced people, in this hospital complex, the largest in Gaza.
Breaking silence for the first time since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the UN Security Council called on Wednesday for a “truce and humanitarian corridors” in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army accuses the Palestinian Hamas movement of using Al-Shifa Hospital as a military base, a site that represents a major target in its war against the Islamic movement that controls the Gaza Strip.
A journalist working with Agence France-Presse saw the Israeli army repositioning itself around the facility late Wednesday afternoon.
