Deadly clashes at Gaza's Al‑Shifa hospital as Israel targets militants

Since Monday, fierce fighting has been taking place over the Al-Shifa hospital complex in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli military spokesperson announced on Saturday that over 170 Palestinian terrorists have been killed in these clashes.

"The army and intelligence forces continue to carry out precise operational activities in the area of the Shifa hospital, while simultaneously preventing losses among the civilian population, patients, and staff, and safeguarding medical equipment," says the military spokesperson's statement. About 800 people have been detained for questioning, among them members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Hamas, a terrorist organization that has been in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, claims that its fighters fought around the hospital, but not inside the building itself, and that the dead are accidental civilian victims. Buildings around the medical facility have been destroyed.

According to Reuters agency, citing conversations with local residents, the buildings were blown up by the Israeli military. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip health department reported that five patients, who could not receive proper care, have died in the hospital.

The Hamas press office - as reported by The New Arab portal - informed that the Israeli military called on civilians to evacuate the hospital and its immediate vicinity.

Since the beginning of the war raging in the Gaza Strip, initiated by a Hamas attack on Israel in October, the army has been calling on civilians to leave the densely populated northern part of the Palestinian territory. Nevertheless, it is estimated that about 300,000 people still remain there.

The Israeli army entered the Al-Shifa hospital grounds for the first time in November 2023. At that time, tunnels and hideouts located, among others, under the hospital grounds were discovered, and nearby, the body of an Israeli hostage taken by terrorists during the raid on October 7, and the car used by the assailants that day were found. However, no living hostages were found.