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<h1>Israeli forces storm Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital</h1><p class="gmail-article__subhead gmail-css-1wt8oh6"><em>Gaza officials report mounting casualties; Israeli military claims Hamas using medical complex to plan attacks.</em></p><div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2023-11-25T182513Z_1494539871_RC2DK4A0WXW3_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-1710730174.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80" alt="Palestinians inspect Al Shifa Hospital which was raided by Israeli forces during its ground operation in Gaza City, November 25, 2023." width="395" height="263" style="margin-right: 25px;"></div>Gaza’s Ministry of Health said some 30,000 people are trapped inside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City [File: Abed Sabah/Reuters]<div class="gmail-article-info-block gmail-css-ti04u9"><div class="gmail-article-b-l" style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)"><div class="gmail-article-dates" style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)"><div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 18 Mar 2024</span><span aria-hidden="true"> -<font size="1"> </font></span><font size="1"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/18/israeli-army-opens-fire-inside-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-officials-say">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/18/israeli-army-opens-fire-inside-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-officials-say</a></font></div><div class="gmail-date-updated"><div class="gmail-date-updated__separator">|</div></div></div></div></div><p>Israel, which wound down many of its operations in northern Gaza some
weeks ago claiming to have destroyed Hamas’s military infrastructure,
said in the statement that Hamas – which governs the enclave – has
“regrouped” inside al-Shifa and is “using it to command attacks against
Israel”.</p>
<p>In a message in English on Telegram, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said
anyone “who tries to move is targeted by sniper bullets and quadcopter”.
It added that the raid, which began at 2am (00:00 GMT), has resulted in
a “number of martyrs and wounded”.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera Arabic reported that the hospital’s surgical building was on fire following the Israeli bombing.</p>
<p>According to Palestinian writer and journalist Imad Zaqqout and other
witnesses, Israeli forces arrested Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent
Ismail al-Ghoul from inside the hospital.</p>
<p>The witnesses said al-Ghoul was beaten severely by Israeli soldiers
before he was arrested with dozens of men and women within the hospital.</p>
<p> </p><p>Abdel-Hady Sayed, who has been sheltering in the medical facility for
over three months, told The Associated Press that people are “trapped
inside”.</p>
<p>“They fire at anything moving… Doctors and ambulances can’t move,” he said.</p>
<p>Later on Monday the Israeli military announced one of its soldiers
died in its raid of the hospital, where it exchanged fire with Hamas
fighters.</p>
<p>The death of the soldier, 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Matan
Vinogradov, brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in the
Gaza war to 250.</p>
<p>Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a video posted
earlier on X that the Israeli military would be conducting a
“humanitarian effort” during the assault, providing food and water. He
also insisted that there is “no obligation” for patients and medical
staff to evacuate the hospital.</p>
<p>However, Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents on the ground reported that
Israeli forces used loudspeakers to order hundreds of people sheltering
at the hospital to evacuate.</p>
<p>Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit shows dozens
of Palestinians fleeing the hospital as Israeli forces launched
operations in the area.</p>
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<p><em>Translation: The Israeli army forces hundreds of families to flee al-Shifa Hospital, west of Gaza City.</em></p>
<p>Later on Monday Israel’s military issued a call for all civilians
near Al-Shifa or in the broader Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City to flee
south.</p>
<p>Leaflets dropped by the Israeli army instructed people to evacuate to
the al-Mawasi evacuation zone located in western Khan Younis,
contradicting Hagari’s earlier statements, leaving a “misleading
narrative”, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said, reporting from Rafah.</p>
<p>Palestinian journalist Wadea Abu Alsoud, trapped inside the medical
complex, described the situation in the facility as “catastrophic” and
reported “intense clashes”, in a video posted to Instagram.</p>
<p>“This might be my last video,” he said. “We’re now besieged inside
al-Shifa Hospital. We’re being heavily shot at. The occupation suddenly
raided the hospital and its vicinity. As you can hear now, there are
intense clashes in the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital. We’re hearing
sounds coming from the gate. There is shrapnel falling over the
hospital’s yard.”</p>
<p>Al Jazeera’s Willem Marx, in occupied East Jerusalem, quoted an
Israeli statement saying its forces “encountered fire inside the
hospital, responded with live fire and individuals were hit”.</p>
<p>Marx noted that this is the fourth Israeli raid on al-Shifa since
October 7. A long siege of the facility in November earned Israel an
international outcry.</p>
<p>The Government Media Office in Gaza condemned the operation, calling the attack a “war crime”.</p>
<p>“The Israeli occupation is still using its fabricated narratives to
deceive the world and justify the storming of al-Shifa,” it said in a
statement.</p>
<p>Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of running military operations
from hospitals and other medical centres, claims the group denies.</p>
<p>The Health Ministry said it had received calls from people in the
area around the hospital claiming there were dozens of casualties.</p>
<p>“No one could transport them to the hospital due to the intensity of gunfire and artillery shelling,” the ministry said.</p>
<p>According to the UN, 155 health facilities in the Gaza Strip have been damaged since the war began.</p>
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