Israel-Hamas war: Healthcare operation grind to halt in Gaza

Hundreds of patients and medical workers at Gaza’s largest hospital, sealed off from the outside world for more than a day after Israeli forces entered, are under constant threat of death, Palestinian medics said on Thursday.

Israel said its commandos were still searching through Al Shifa hospital on Thursday, more than a day after they entered its grounds as part of an offensive Israel says aims to wipe out Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave.

To date, Israel has made public images of weapons and flak jackets purportedly discovered on the property, but it has not provided any proof of the existence of the massive tunnel-based Hamas command centre it said was hidden beneath it.

Hospitals are entitled to unique protections under international humanitarian law, Human Rights Watch warned.

A BBC film crew was allowed access to the hospital overnight by Israeli soldiers, who showed it some firearms they claimed to have found inside. However, the network claimed that Israeli escorts had prohibited their team from speaking with patients or personnel.

Israeli soldiers, according to Gaza’s health ministry, had taken remains from the hospital property and wrecked cars parked there, but they were preventing employees and patients from leaving.

There was no food, water, or baby milk in Shifa, which was home to 7,000 displaced people and 650 patients after weeks of Israeli airstrikes and artillery bombardment, according to Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra.

(With agency inputs)