GAZA: Israel's military said on Wednesday it had killed around 90 people and arrested 160 in a raid on Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, an allegation the Palestinian group denied.
Al Shifa, the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital before the war, is now one of the few healthcare facilities even partially operational in the north of the territory, and had also been housing displaced civilians.
"Over the past day, the troops have eliminated fighters and located weapons in the hospital area, while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment," the military said in a statement.
It also published the names and photographs of two Israeli soldiers killed in the operation.
Israel's raid at the hospital began in the early hours of Monday. The military, which published videos of weapons stashes inside the facility, said it had sent in special forces supported by infantry and tanks, based on intelligence that the hospital was again being used by gunmen.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of Gaza's government media office, said all of those killed had been wounded patients and displaced persons inside the hospital.
"The Israeli occupation army practices lying and deception in spreading its narrative as part of justifying its continuous and law-breaking crimes, which violate international law, international humanitarian law," he said.
Israel faced fierce criticism last November when troops first raided Al Shifa hospital. The troops uncovered tunnels there, which they said had been used as command and control centres by Palestinian groups. Hamas and medical staff deny that the hospital is used for military purposes or to shelter fighters.
"What happens in Al Shifa Hospital is a war crime and is part of the war of genocide conducted by the Israeli occupation,” said senior Hamas official Basem Naim, who has previously served as a health minister.
In the Jabalia refugee camp, hungry Gazans hold out pots to receive soup during the holy month of Ramadhan.
Residents of the besieged strip are lucky to find a few scraps of food, or sips of water, after more than five months of Israeli bombardment in its war.
The United Nations human rights chief on Tuesday said Israel's restrictions on humanitarian aid for Gaza may amount to a starvation tactic that could be a war crime, after a U.N.-backed report found famine is likely by May without an end to the fighting.
Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and reduced much of the enclave to rubble. — Reuters
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