Israeli forces are in control of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, after an overnight raid on the medical complex, and have told thousands living nearby to evacuate towards the south of the Palestinian territory.
Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesperson, said early on Monday that troops were “conducting a high-precision operation in limited areas of Shifa hospital based on … intelligence information indicating the use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists to command attacks”.
Hours later, the Israeli Defense Forces said it had taken over the sprawling complex, claiming it had killed or wounded an undisclosed number of Hamas militants, while also detaining 80 people. At least one Israeli soldier was reported as wounded.
The IDF has used leaflets and social media to urge civilians around Shifa to leave the vicinity, telling them to head immediately along Gaza’s coastal road to al-Muwasi, an area 18 miles (30km) south.
There is very limited transport available in Gaza, and many residents of Gaza City, particularly children and elderly people, are weak after months without adequate food. It was not immediately clear how they would be able to comply with the Israeli instructions.
The Israeli military issued grainy drone footage of the Shifa raid that it said showed troops coming under fire from a number of buildings within the hospital complex. The IDF said troops had been instructed on the importance of avoiding harm to patients, civilians, medical staff and equipment.
Witnesses said al-Rimal area of Gaza City, where the hospital is located, had been hit by airstrikes.
“Suddenly, we started to hear sounds of explosions, several bombings and soon tanks started to roll. They came from the western road and headed towards al-Shifa, then sounds of gunfire and explosions increased,” Mohammad Ali, 32, a father of two, who lives just over a mile from the hospital, told Reuters via a chat app.
“We don’t know what is happening, but it looked as if it was a re-invasion of the Gaza City,” he added.
Hamas said the Israeli military had committed a new crime by directly targeting the hospital buildings without caring about patients, medical staff or displaced people in it.
Gaza’s health ministry said the raid had caused a fire at the entrance of the complex, resulting in cases of asphyxiation among displaced women and children in the hospital.
It said communication had been cut off, with people trapped inside the surgery and emergency units of one of the buildings.
“There are casualties, including deaths and injuries, and it’s impossible to rescue anyone due to the intensity of the fire and targeting of anyone approaching the windows,” the ministry said, as it accused Israeli forces of “another crime against health institutions”.
The claims made by health ministry officials, the IDF and Hamas could not be independently verified.
An Israeli raid in November on Shifa – Gaza’s largest hospital – drew widespread international condemnation and the new operation underlines the difficulties faced by Israel in Gaza.
Since February, the IDF has returned to fight in parts of the territory that were thought to have been cleared of Hamas militants after fierce battles last year. Residents of Gaza City told the Guardian this month that few Israeli troops were stationed amid its ruined streets but had withdrawn to positions on outskirts and at key road junctions.
Hagari said there was no need for patients or medical staff to evacuate Shifa but that there would be “a passageway for civilians to exit the hospital”.
The fighting and the devastation in northern Gaza has forced thousands of Palestinians to seek shelter at Shifa, living in makeshift tents in its grounds.
Reports on social media described scenes of panic and unverified footage showed people attempting to flee along a street in the dark as the Israeli operation began.
Israeli forces have raided a number of hospitals in Gaza during a military campaign launched after the surprise attack by Hamas into southern Israel in which the militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 others hostage.
The intensity of the offensive has eased somewhat in recent weeks but the death toll continues to rise. Israel’s campaign against Hamas has killed at least 31,645 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Last week, the UK called for an investigation into an Israeli raid on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in February, after a report that medical staff faced violent and humiliating treatment in detention after the attack.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields by running military operations from hospitals and other medical centres. The militant group denies these claims.
After its November raid on Shifa, the Israeli military said it had found weapons and military equipment hidden there as well as a 55-metre tunnel in the basement. The IDF shared footage it said proved hostages had been held there, which Hamas also denies.
Evidence produced by the IDF did not appear to substantiate claims made before the raid that the militant group had built a well-equipped command centre in multiple connected bunkers beneath the hospital.
Aid agencies have been working to restore services at Shifa for several weeks, but have found it difficult to reach northern Gaza to bring in equipment and supplies.
The latest raid comes amid hopes that a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel can be agreed in a new round of talks expected to start within days.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has said no amount of international pressure would stop Israel from realising its war aim of “crushing Hamas” and has pledged to launch a long-anticipated offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza that is now home to more than 1 million people displaced from elsewhere in the territory.
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