RAFAH, Gaza Strip — There were loud explosions and gunfire in the area around Gaza's biggest hospital as Israeli forces entered the facility for a second day on Tuesday. The military claimed to have killed 50 Hamas militants in the hospital, but there is no independent confirmation of this.
The raid dealt another blow to the Shifa medical complex, which had only partly resumed operations after a previous destructive Israeli raid in November. Thousands of Palestinian patients, medical staff, and displaced people were stuck inside the large complex on Tuesday while heavy fighting between troops and Hamas fighters occurred in nearby areas.
“It’s very difficult right now. There's heavy bombing in the area of Shifa, and buildings are being hit. The sound of tank and artillery fire is continuous,” Emy Shaheen, who lives near the hospital, said in a voice message with repeated booms of shelling audible in the background. She said a large fire had been raging for hours near the hospital.
The Israeli military said it entered Shifa early on Monday because Hamas fighters had gathered in the hospital and were directing attacks from inside.
The claim could not be confirmed, and the Hamas media office said all those killed in the assault were civilians. But the increase in fighting in Gaza City highlighted Hamas’ ongoing presence in northern Gaza months after Israeli ground troops claimed to have largely controlled the area.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. More than 31,800 Palestinians have been killed in the bombing and offensive since. Much of northern Gaza has been destroyed, and an international expert on hunger crises warned on Monday that 70% of the people there were experiencing catastrophic hunger and that famine was imminent.
The chaos in the north coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirming his intent to invade Gaza’s southernmost town, Rafah – one of the last major towns not targeted by a ground assault.
A day earlier, in their first phone call in a month, U.S. President Joe Biden advised Netanyahu not to proceed with a Rafah operation, pushing for “an alternative approach” to more precisely target Hamas fighters there.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has voiced concern over attacking Rafah because some 1.4 million people from across Gaza have gathered in the area. U.N. officials have warned of a massive death toll and the potential collapse of the humanitarian aid effort if troops moved into Rafah.
Netanyahu agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss Rafah with Biden administration officials.
But on Tuesday, he told a parliamentary committee that while he would listen to U.S. proposals “out of respect” to Biden, “we are determined to complete the elimination of these (Hamas) battalions in Rafah, and there is no way to do this without a ground incursion.”
Airstrikes in Rafah overnight destroyed an apartment and several houses, killing at least 15 people, including six women and children, hospital officials said.
New Shifa siege
Israeli forces recently attacked Shifa Hospital again, alleging that Hamas had a command center below and within the hospital. The military discovered a tunnel leading to underground rooms and claimed to have found weapons inside the hospital. However, the evidence did not fully support the initial claims, leading to criticism of the army for endangering civilians.
Gaza's primary health facility, Shifa Hospital, suffered severe damage in the attack and has only been able to partially resume operations. Around 30,000 displaced individuals sought shelter at the hospital when the new Israeli assault began.
Tanks surrounded the hospital and troops entered multiple buildings in a raid before dawn on Monday.
Two soldiers were reported killed in the operation, and 300 suspects, including alleged Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, were detained. Some patients were moved to Ahli Hospital, according to Mahmoud Bassal, civil defense spokesperson.
Abdel-Hady Sayed, a sheltering individual at Shifa hospital, recounted that troops detained and moved dozens of people from the hospital's yard, subjecting them to blindfolding, handcuffing, and ordering them to strip before taking some away.
Sayed expressed fear among those inside the hospital, particularly men, to heed Israeli calls to evacuate. He called for international intervention to stop the actions of the troops.
The military confirmed the death of Faiq Mabhouh, a senior officer in Gaza's police force, during the raid. The military alleged he was hiding with weapons, while the Gaza government stated he was responsible for aid distribution protection in the north.
Heavy fighting took place around Shifa, with Hamas' military wing claiming to have targeted Israeli armored vehicles and soldiers with rockets near the hospital.
Rescue teams were unable to respond to bombing incidents near Shifa due to ongoing fighting, as reported by Bassal from emergency services.
Kareem al-Shawwa, a local resident, described the past day as terrifying due to explosions and intense gunfire. Israeli troops urged evacuation, but fear of arrest or getting caught in the fighting prevented al-Shawwa and his family from leaving their home.
Israel has accused Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to protect its fighters, leading to multiple hospital raids by the Israeli military since the beginning of the conflict.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 31,726 Palestinians have died in Israel's offensive. The ministry's count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but notes that women and children make up two-thirds of the deceased.
In Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7th, about 1,200 people were killed and another 250 were taken hostage, triggering the war. It's believed that Hamas still holds around 100 captives and the remains of 30 others, after most of the others were released during a cease-fire last year.
