Gaza/Geneva — The United Nations and the Red Cross voiced alarm Wednesday after Israeli forces raided Gaza’s largest hospital, demanding that thousands of patients and civilians there be protected.
Israeli forces raided Al-Shifa hospital Wednesday morning, targeting what they say is a Hamas command centre in tunnels beneath thousands of patients and civilians seeking refuge from intense combat.
“I’m appalled by reports of military raids in Al Shifa hospital in Gaza,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on X, formerly Twitter.
“The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns,” he said.
“Hospitals are not battlegrounds.”
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus agreed.
“Reports of military incursion into Al-Shifa hospital are deeply concerning,” he wrote on X, warning that the UN health agency had “lost touch again with health personnel at the hospital”.
“We’re extremely worried for their and their patients’ safety.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that it was “extremely concerned about the impact on sick and wounded people, medical staff, and civilians”.
“All measures to avoid any consequences on them must be taken,” it said, insisting that “patients, medical staff, and civilians must be at all times protected”.
The ICRC added that it was “in contact with all concerned authorities and we continue to closely monitor the situation”.
Al-Shifa is a key target in Israel’s campaign.
The United Nations has said it estimates that at least 2,300 people — patients, staff and displaced civilians — are inside and may be unable to escape because of fierce fighting.
Witnesses have described horrific conditions inside the hospital, with medical procedures taking place without anesthetic, families with scant food or water living in corridors and the stench of decomposing corpses filling the air.
‘Stop this horror’: UNICEF chief on Gaza visit
The head of the UN children’s agency said Wednesday she had witnessed “devastating” scenes on a visit to war-ravaged Gaza and urged Israel and Hamas to “stop this horror”.
“What I saw and heard was devastating. They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement,” UNICEF’s executive director Catherine Russell said, describing a rare visit to the Palestinian territory by a top UN official.
“Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn,” Russell said in a statement.
“The parties to the conflict are committing grave violations against children,” she said.
“These include killing, maiming, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access – all of which UNICEF condemns.”
Russell pointed out that more than 4,600 children have been killed and nearly 9,000 reportedly been injured.
“Many children are missing and believed buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and homes, the tragic result of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas,” she said.
“Meanwhile, newborn babies who require specialized care have died in one of Gaza’s hospitals as power and medical supplies run out, and violence continues with indiscriminate effect.”
Russell reiterated her call “on all parties to ensure that children are protected and assisted, as per international humanitarian law”.
“Only the parties to the conflict can truly stop this horror.”
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Russell called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and for the rivals “to safely release all abducted and detained children”.
She also demanded that the two sides “ensure that humanitarian actors have safe, sustained and unimpeded access to reach those in need with the full range of lifesaving services and supplies.”
Russell said she had visited the Al-Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis where she met with patients and displaced families seeking shelter and safety.
“A 16-year-old girl told me from her hospital bed that her neighborhood had been bombed. She survived but doctors say she will never be able to walk again,” she said.
Russell said she had also met with UNICEF staff who were “continuing to deliver for children amidst the danger and devastation”.
She said the organization was striving to continue to deliver aid, “but diesel fuel has practically run out, causing some hospitals and health centers to stop functioning”.
“Without fuel, desalination plants cannot produce drinking water and humanitarian supplies cannot be distributed.”
'Raise your hands' Israeli forces, some wearing facemasks and firing guns into the air, raided early Wednesday Gaza's biggest hospital which was packed with thousands of Palestinian patients and displaced people, in the army's battle against Hamas. "All men 16 years and above, raise your hands," a soldier shouted in accented Arabic through a loudspeaker, to those sheltering inside Al-Shifa hospital, which has become the center of fierce urban combat for days. "Exit the building towards the courtyard and surrender," the soldier ordered, according to a journalist who visited the embattled hospital several days ago for interviews and was trapped inside because of the fighting outside. About 1,000 male Palestinians, their hands above their heads, were soon led into the vast hospital courtyard, some of them stripped naked by Israeli soldiers checking them for weapons or explosives, the journalist told AFP. The army labelled the raid a "precise and targeted" operation against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that launched the October 7 attacks and which Israel claims is running a command center in tunnels beneath the clinic. Israeli and Palestinian officials both reported the overnight military operations at Al-Shifa, the focal point of days of deadly fighting and nearby aerial bombardments. Witnesses have described conditions inside the hospital as horrific, with medical procedures performed without anesthetic, families with scant food or water living in corridors, and the stench of decomposing corpses filling the air. As Israeli forces raced through the corridors, hundreds of young men emerged from different wards, including the maternity section, which was hit in a strike a few days ago, the journalist reported. Soldiers were firing warning shots as they moved from room to room looking for Hamas militants, he said, adding that the troops were also searching women and children, some of whom were in tears.
Tanks in hospital
Several Israeli tanks rolled into the vast hospital complex, the journalist said, adding that Israeli troops had also entered the main emergency department and other wards.
The Israeli army, in a statement early Wednesday, described it as “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area” of the facility.
The army said it had delivered incubators, baby food and medical supplies to the hospital during the operation.
“Our medical teams and Arabic speaking soldiers are on the ground to ensure that these supplies reach those in need,” it said.
Gaza’s Hamas government accused the Israeli army of committing a “war crime and crime against humanity”.
Over the past few days Israel has encircled Al-Shifa in north Gaza, charging that tunnels under the facility were being used as hideouts by Hamas commanders.
The White House said that US intelligence sources corroborated Israel’s claim that Hamas and another militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, had buried an operational “command and control node” under Al-Shifa.
Hamas has denied those charges and stressed the suffering inside the besieged clinic that, like other hospitals, has been without electricity or fuel for generators amid the Israeli siege of the Palestinian territory.
The United Nations said earlier that at least 2,300 people — patients, staff and displaced civilians — were inside and may be unable to escape because of the fierce fighting.
Citing the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, UN humanitarian agency OCHA said 40 patients had died in Al-Shifa on Tuesday.
The hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya said that 179 bodies had been interred in a mass grave inside the complex.
Despite fuel delivery, UN warns Gaza operations ‘on verge of collapse’
Just hours after receiving its first wartime delivery of fuel from outside Gaza, the UN warned Wednesday its operations in the territory were facing collapse, with most people soon unable to access drinking water. "Our entire operation is now on the verge of collapse," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. "To have fuel for trucks only will not save lives anymore," the UNRWA chief wrote on X, formerly Twitter, saying the fuel shortages had prompted critical shortages of drinking water. "By the end of today, around 70 percent of the population in Gaza won't have access to clean water," he said of the 2.4 million people living in the tiny territory. Earlier, Thomas White, the head of UNRWA's Gaza operations, said that supplying fuel for trucks did nothing to address the fuel shortages that were crippling hospitals, sewage facilities and water supplies. "In Rafah, all 10 water wells have stopped pumping, the only source of water in the city -- why? No fuel," he wrote on X, referring to the city on Gaza's southern tip.
Canadian PM: Killing of women, babies must stop
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the killing “of women, of children, of babies” in the Israel-Hamas war must stop.
“The world is watching, on TV, on social media, we are hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who have lost their parents,” Trudeau said at an event in British Columbia province.
“The world is witnessing this killing of women, of children, of babies. This has to stop.”
ASEAN defense chiefs call for end Israel-Hamas war
Southeast Asian defense ministers called for an end to the Myanmar crisis and to the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday as they gathered for talks that will include meetings with regional counterparts and the Pentagon chief.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Jakarta were dominated by issues ranging from the Myanmar crisis to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
Muslim-majority Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo called on US President Joe Biden this week to help bring about a ceasefire in Gaza.
Malaysian Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan also called for a truce, saying Kuala Lumpur condemned “terrorism in all its forms” and the killing of civilians.
“Further loss of life, suffering and destruction should stop and parties must exercise utmost restraint and de-escalate,” he said.
A draft chair statement by Indonesia seen by AFP, which is not a negotiated text and reflects only Jakarta’s view, said “ASEAN calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and urges both parties to respect the sanctity of life and property”.
A Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP the draft text was still being worked on before publication.