An Israeli flag stands on the top of a destroyed building in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Wednesday.
Leo Correa/AP
Leo Correa/AP
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said it found weapons and other equipment used by the militant group Hamas after entering Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, a major complex that is the territory’s largest medical center.
Israeli troops first clashed with Hamas fighters on the street outside Al-Shifa Hospital, killing four militants, according to a senior Israeli defense official who briefed the media.
The official said troops then entered before dawn Wednesday, local time, to search a specific part of the hospital complex, which he did not name. There, the troops found weapons, though the official did not offer any further details.
Hamas denounced the actions by the Israeli military early Wednesday and it denied the assertion by the Israeli military and U.S. officials that militants were embedded in the hospital.
This military action by Israel caps weeks of efforts by troops there to encircle Al-Shifa and other medical buildings in northern Gaza, as the conditions inside the hospitals continue to deteriorate. Israel says that Hamas has located military operations underneath certain hospitals, which Hamas denies.
Hundreds of patients and staff were still inside Al-Shifa when Israeli troops entered. On Tuesday, Al-Shifa officials reported that the hospital had buried 170 people in a mass grave.
Israel’s military said in a statement that “troops delivered humanitarian aid” to Al-Shifa.
A small amount of fuel allowed into Gaza
More than 23,000 liters of fuel were allowed into Gaza Wednesday after weeks of restrictions from Israelis, according to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations relief agency for Palestine refugees, or UNRWA.
This comes after weeks of UNRWA and other aid groups begging for fuel to be let in and only after several hospitals, including Al-Shifa, reported they lost power after running out of fuel to run their generators, leading to the death of some patients.
But in a statement, Lazzarini said Israel has “restricted the use of this fuel only to transport the little aid coming via Egypt. This fuel cannot be used for the overall humanitarian response, including for medical and water facilities or the work of UNRWA.”
“It is appalling that fuel continues to be used as a weapon of war,” the statement continued. “For the past five weeks, UNRWA has been pleading to get fuel in support of the humanitarian operation in Gaza. This seriously paralyses our work and the delivery of assistance to the Palestinian communities in Gaza.”
“By the end of today, around 70 per cent of people in Gaza will not have clean water. Key services including water desalination plants, sewage treatments and hospitals have ceased to operate,” Lazzarini said.
“Much more fuel is needed,” he continued. “We need 160,000 litres of fuel every day for basic humanitarian operations.”