Gaza’s largest hospital raided by Israeli military

The Israel Defense Forces claims to have killed 90 Hamas militants but the group says all of the victims were patients

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has raided Gaza’s largest medical facility, Al Shifa hospital, claiming to have killed 90 Hamas militants and seized cash belonging to the group. However, Hamas says all of the victims were patients at the hospital.

Since Israel launched its massive military campaign in Gaza in response to the deadly incursion on October 7 by Hamas, the IDF has conducted multiple assaults on the hospital. When it first raided the medical complex in November 2023, Israel claimed that Al Shifa was being used as a command center by Hamas militants.

Both the Islamist group and staff at the hospital denied the allegations, with Israel attracting international criticism over the operation.

In a message posted on its Telegram channel on Wednesday, the IDF stated that “as part of the searches at the hospital, the forces located 11 million shekels in USD and Jordanian Dinars ($3 million) that were earmarked for terrorism.”

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Israeli troops also detained more than 300 people, according to the statement, some of whom are believed to be “senior terrorists and those with key positions.” The IDF also claimed that its forces had delivered food and water to Palestinian civilians.

In a separate post on X (formerly Twitter), the Israeli military claimed to have “eliminated approx. 90 terrorists” at the hospital, “while preventing harm to patients, staff and equipment.”

Israel launched the raid in the early hours of Monday, claiming that Hamas militants had taken refuge in the medical facility.

The head of Gaza’s Hamas-controlled government media office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, suggested that Israeli troops had killed patients and civilians who were taking cover at Al Shifa.

“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,” the official alleged.

On Monday, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry wrote on its Telegram channel that Israeli military personnel were “directly shooting the specialized surgeries building with bullets and targeting it with missiles.” The attack had resulted in an unspecified “number of martyrs and wounded” by that stage, the statement read, adding that anyone “who tries to move is targeted by sniper bullets and quadcopters.”