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Israel's Al-Shifa raid in Gaza lambasted: ‘Hospitals are not battlegrounds’
Al-Shifa Raid: Israel army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas, it said.
The United Nations and the Red Cross raised concerns after Israel raided Gaza's largest hospital Al-Shifa hospital. The agencies demanded that thousands of patients and civilians there be protected as Israeli forces entered Al-Shifa hospital targeting a Hamas command centre in tunnels beneath it as thousands of patients and civilians sought refuge in the building.
Israel army had surrounded the facility as part of its ground offensive against Hamas and said that its forces were carrying out “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area” in the hospital. The Israeli military said it had warned "the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours. Unfortunately, it did not.”
"I'm appalled by reports of military raids in Al Shifa hospital in Gaza," UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on X (formerly Twitter).
Read more: Israel enters Gaza's Shifa hospital with tanks, patients stranded: Top updates
"The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns," he said, adding, "Hospitals are not battlegrounds."
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Reports of military incursion into Al-Shifa hospital are deeply concerning. We have lost touch again with health personnel at the hospital. We're extremely worried for their and their patients' safety.”
The Red Cross voiced alarm saying, "We are extremely concerned about the impact on sick and wounded people, medical staff, and civilians. All measures to avoid any consequences on them must be taken".
The head of the UN children's agency decried that the "devastating" scenes she witnessed during a visit to war-ravaged Gaza, urging the parties to the conflict to "stop this horror".
"What I saw and heard was devastating. They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement. Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza's one million children to turn," UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said.
