Attacking Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and Calling on Hamas Militants to Surrender, Israeli Military: Our Goal is to Bring Home the Hostages

Israeli military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - The Israeli military said its troops carried out an operation at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza City, Palestine with precision and measurability to hunt down the Hamas militant group and free the hostages.

Director General of the Gaza Ministry of Health Dr. Munir al-Bursh told Al Jazeera television that Israeli forces had raided the western side of the medical complex.

"There was a big explosion and dust came into the area where we were. We believe the explosion occurred inside the hospital," said Bursh, reported by Reuters, November 15.

Israeli forces first raided the surgical and emergency departments, Mohammed Zaqout, hospital director at Gaza's Ministry of Health, told Al Jazeera.

Hours later, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said: "The occupation soldiers are now in the basement, and searched the basement. They are inside the compound, shooting and bombing."

Meanwhile, the Israeli military (IDF) said that its troops' operations at the largest hospital in Gaza were carried out with precision and on target.

It was said that the troops who entered the hospital also consisted of medical teams and Arabic speakers who had undergone special training. to avoid losses.

"We call on all Hamas terrorists who are in hospital to surrender," the IDF said in a statement, citing The Times of Israel.

An IDF spokesman said it had no intention of taking control of the hospital, stressing its aim was to defeat Hamas and rescue hostages.

"Our goal is to bring (the hostages) home. Our goal is to find Hamas wherever they are hiding," Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN.

It is known that Al-Shifa Hospital is a large complex of buildings and courtyards, several hundred meters from the Gaza City fishing port. The buildings on the west side of the complex, which Gaza officials said were the site of the raid, include internal medicine and dialysis departments.

Hamas said 650 patients and another 5,000 to 7,000 civilians were trapped inside the hospital grounds, under Israeli sniper and drone fire. Amid shortages of fuel, water and supplies, it is said 40 patients have died in recent days.

Thirty-six babies were left behind from the neonatal ward after three died. Without generator fuel to power the incubators, the babies were kept warm, lined up eight times a day in beds.

Palestinians trapped in hospitals dug mass graves on Tuesday to bury dead patients and there were no plans to evacuate babies despite Israel's announced offer to send portable incubators, al-Qidra said.

Al-Qidra said there were about 100 bodies rotting inside and there was no way to get them out.