Al-Shifa hospital seen in ruins as IDF pulls again
Gazans surveyed the harm to al-Shifa Hospital within the wake of the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The Israeli navy introduced completion of its controversial “focused operation” at Shifa Hospital in Gaza Metropolis on Monday after killing 200 militants and arresting 500 others throughout a weeks-long siege that drew outcries from hospital officers and international leaders.
The navy stated the operation was carried out because of “preliminary and correct” intelligence indicating Hamas militants had been utilizing the sprawling campus and its environs as a command-and-control middle and a navy headquarters.
“The forces situated many weapons (and) intelligence paperwork all through the hospital, encountered terrorists in face-to-face battles and fought battles whereas stopping hurt to the medical employees and sufferers,” the navy stated in a assertion, including that Israeli forces will “proceed to function within the north of the Gaza Strip and wherever terrorism rears its head.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director basic of the World Well being Group, posted a photograph of a battered hospital constructing on Twitter with the phrases “I repeat: hospitals should be revered and guarded; they have to not be used as battlefields.”
The Hamas-run Gaza media workplace stated Israeli forces killed 400 Palestinians round Shifa, together with a feminine doctor and her son, additionally a doctor, and left the hospital in ruins.
“The occupation destroyed and burnt all buildings inside Al Shifa Medical Complicated,” stated Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the media workplace. “They bulldozed the courtyards, burying dozens of our bodies of martyrs within the rubble, turning the place right into a mass graveyard. It is a crime towards humanity.”
Pope Francis urges truce: Requires instant cease-fire in Gaza
Developments:
∎ Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a prime commander with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, was killed when Israeli warplanes struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday, a Lebanese safety supply advised Reuters. Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari stated Iran “will reply” to Israeli airstrikes, Iran’s Nournews reported.
∎ A sister of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has been arrested on suspicion of contact with militant operatives and supporting acts of terror, a number of Israeli information businesses reported Monday. Police stated Sabah Abdel Salam Haniyeh, an Israeli citizen, was taken into custody within the city of Tel Sheva. Police advised i24 Information that paperwork and digital units discovered throughout a raid on her residence linked her to “severe safety offenses.”
∎ Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant stated senior Hamas militants arrested by Israel’s armed forces in current days “made it clear that the group is disintegrating from inside.” He stated senior militants are turning themselves in and offering info useful to the Israeli navy.
Michigan congressman on video: Seems to name for nuclear bombs to be dropped on Gaza
Israel was poised to ban the Qatari-based information outlet Al-Jazeera after the Knesset permitted laws offering the federal government with momentary energy to maintain overseas information networks deemed a menace to nationwide safety from functioning within the nation. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a hard-liner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Get together, championed the invoice, saying it offered a fast device to be used towards those that use freedom of the press to hurt Israeli troopers and incite terrorism.
“There can be no freedom of speech for Hamas mouthpieces in Israel,” Karhi stated after the invoice received approval. “Al Jazeera can be closed within the coming days.”
White Home spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre known as stories of a potential Israeli ban on Al-Jazeera “regarding.”
“We have seen the stories,” she stated. “Whether it is true, a transfer like that is concerninig. We consider within the freedom of the press. So we consider that work is essential.”
1000’s of protesters marched in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as the large demonstrations towards Netanyahu’s coalition authorities stretched right into a second day Monday. One of many organizing teams, Kaplan Pressure, stated on its web site it’s “using all lawful means out there to forestall this dictatorship’s takeover of Israel.”
Netanyahu was underneath strain over an effort to weaken Israel’s judicial system, considered as an influence seize, even earlier than the warfare started. The longtime Israeli chief then drew in depth criticism when Israel appeared unprepared for the Oct. 7 militant assault that killed 1,200 individuals and noticed round 250 seized as hostages. Netanyahu additionally has drawn criticism from the households and supporters of greater than 100 hostages nonetheless held in Gaza, claiming his authorities has not pressed laborious sufficient to barter their launch.
Lots of of ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked an Israeli freeway exterior the central metropolis of Bnei Brak on Monday to protest conscription to the navy, the Occasions of Israel reported. Protesters held banners studying “To jail and never the military,” “We’ll die reasonably than draft,” and “Russia is right here.”
Monday was the authorized deadline for the Protection Ministry to start drafting Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews. They’ve been exempt from navy service since Israel’s founding in 1948, however their rising numbers and the elevated demand for troopers has constructed resentment amongst some Israelis for the opt-out. A Excessive Court docket of Justice order additionally freezes monetary assist for Haredi academies whose college students obtain the annual navy service deferrals, and the Protection Ministry was instructed to start drafting Haredi males.
Senior U.S. and Israeli officers deliberate a digital assembly Monday to debate various proposals to an Israeli navy invasion of Rafah. President Joe Biden has repeatedly urged Israel to not launch a floor invasion of the southern Gaza metropolis that’s filled with residents and refugees from different elements of the war-torn enclave. Netanyahu had been equally ada
mant in saying there isn’t any there isn’t any different technique to remove Hamas.
Netanyahu canceled a deliberate go to to Washington final week by a senior Israeli delegation after the Biden administration allowed passage of a Gaza cease-fire decision on the U.N. Days later, nonetheless, Israel requested the White Home for the high-level assembly on navy plans for Rafah.
Contributing: Reuters
