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Israel-Gaza war: Israeli military tells Gazans to evacuate al-Shifa hospital after raid - BBC News Israel-Gaza war: Israeli military tells Gazans to evacuate al-Shifa hospital after raid - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Lucy Williamson Joel Gunter
Reporting from JerusalemReporting from Jerusalem
The assault on al-Shifa Hospital today underlines the challenges facing Israel’s prime minister in achieving his war goals. Dr Amer Jedbeh, a 31-year-old surgical resident, just spoke to the BBC from the hallway of the surgical building inside Al-Shifa.
Israel’s army carried out an extensive operation at the same hospital in November, trawling the complex, room by room, for Hamas fighters and evidence of what it said was a key ‘command and control centre’ for the group. “We are trapped where we are inside the department,” he says.
In January, the army said it had dismantled Hamas’s entire command structure in the northern Gaza Strip, reducing its fighters to sporadic attacks “without commanders”. “A shell hit our building on the first floor, injuring several people. One man died – we could not save him. We are working only with first aid, essentially, we cannot operate because there is no electricity or water.”
Now Israeli forces are back inside al-Shifa hospital, to arrest Hamas operatives they say had returned there. Dr Jedbeh says he had been able to go into the ICU because it was in the same building, and two life support patients there had died because the electricity was killed ahead of the beginning of the raid.
This military operation inside a protected medical facility adds pressure on negotiators in Qatar today, where both sides are due to resume talks on a ceasefire deal. “All the machinery is off,” he explains, adding that it was impossible to move between buildings.
One of the key sticking points is thought to be the demand from Hamas that civilians displaced by the war can return to their homes in the north. “Colleagues from the main building say there are many injured there who need surgery but we cannot get to them and they cannot bring the patients to us.”
Israel is reportedly concerned that it could provide cover for Hamas to rebuild its capabilities there. Dr Jedbeh says he was on a short rest break when the assault began at 2am, and that an hour later, the Israeli army used a loudspeaker to instruct everyone in the hospital to stand away from the windows and not move from their position.
“The condition here is very critical, we have badly wounded people but no way to treat them. The shooting is still happening, there has been no let up since 2am," he says.
"If a bullet costs them one dollar, it sounds like they have spent three million dollars this night.”
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