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Displaced Palestinians gather in the yard of Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital on 10 December 2023, as battles continue between Israel and the militant group Hamas in the Palestinian territory. (AFP)
The
Israeli army announced Monday an operation was under way in Gaza’s main
hospital, Al-Shifa, saying senior Hamas militants were using the complex.
Soldiers
“are currently conducting a precise operation in the area of the Shifa
hospital,” a statement from the military said.
“The
operation is based on intelligence information indicating the use of the
hospital by senior Hamas terrorists”.
Al-Shifa
is the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital. The Israeli army had in November last
year carried out an operation in the complex, sparking an international outcry.
Witnesses
in Gaza City told AFP the Al-Rimal neighbourhood, where Al-Shifa is located,
had been hit by air strikes.
They
also said tanks had surrounded the sprawling Al-Shifa complex.
DEVELOPING | More than 13 000 children killed in Gaza in Israel offensive – UNICEF
Israel
has repeatedly accused Hamas of running military operations from hospitals and
other medical centres, claims the militant group denies.
The
war began when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack from Gaza on 7 October
that resulted in about 1 160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to
an AFP tally of official figures.
Vowing
to destroy Hamas, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment and ground
offensive, which the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory
says has killed at least 31 645 people in Gaza, most of them women and
children.
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