The Israeli military on Monday initiated an operation around Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, witnesses reported airstrikes hitting the heavily affected neighborhood where it is located.
Israeli soldiers “are currently conducting a precise operation in the area of the Shifa hospital,” a statement from the military said.
“The operation is based on intelligence information indicating the use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists.”
Witnesses in Gaza City said they saw tanks surround the hospital site.
The Israeli army also carried out a November operation in Al-Shifa, sparking an international outcry.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war have sought shelter in the complex, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of running military operations from hospitals and other medical centers, claims the militant group denies.
The Hamas government media office in Gaza condemned the operation, saying that “the storming of the Al-Shifa medical complex with tanks, drones, and weapons, and shooting inside it, is a war crime.”
The Israeli army has carried out several operations on medical facilities around the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
