War in the Middle East
Israeli army spokesman on the battle for Al-Shifa Hospital: “This brings us one step closer to our goal”
Watch the video: Situation in Al-Shifa clinic comes to a head – Israel shows video of fuel delivery.
Newborns were removed from incubators at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday after power was almost completely cut. The doctors responsible are looking for other options to care for the babies. However, they fear that some of them will not survive. According to Palestinian information, the two largest hospitals in the coastal area controlled by the radical Islamic Hamas had to shut down operations. According to the UN, half of the hospitals in Gaza are now closed. The situation is devastating and dangerous. The constant shelling and bombing in the region had made the already critical conditions even worse. The number of deaths among patients has increased significantly. Israel accuses Hamas of setting up command centers under and near hospitals. Hamas denies this. She also rejected Israel’s accusations that she had rejected 300 liters of fuel that were supposedly intended for Al-Shifa Hospital. At the same time, the Islamists criticize that the crowd is not even enough to run the hospital’s generators for more than thirty minutes. The Israeli military said it had dumped 300 liters of fuel outside the entrance to the hospital on Saturday night and offered to evacuate newborn babies. As evidence of this, it released a video on Sunday showing soldiers moving towards a building with canisters. It was said that the help offered was rejected by Hamas. This information could not be independently verified.
The situation around the Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip is getting worse. Thousands of civilians are caught between the fronts in the contested area. Israel’s army spokesman speaks of a “giant challenge”.
In view of the fierce fighting between the Israeli army and the Islamist Hamas, concerns are growing for the people in the hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday that the largest hospital in the coastal area, the Al-Shifa Clinic, was no longer functional. There has been no electricity or water for three days, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The situation on site is “bad and dangerous”.
Israel accuses Hamas of building its military headquarters in tunnels under the Al-Shifa-To have built a hospital complex. Peter Lerner, Spokesman for the Israeli army described the Al-Shifa Hospital as an “absolutely central focus” in an interview with ZDF on Sunday evening. The scale of the Hamas operation from there is “huge”, in and under the hospital and in similar locations. “We are pushing forward, but we have left free access, the eastern exit,” emphasized Lerner. People could leave the clinic there – thousands have already done so.
From the spokesman’s point of view, the situation around Al-Shifa Hospital is “a perfect example” of how the Israeli army operates. “Just last night, in the early hours of the morning, we brought 300 liters of fuel so that we could run the generators there,” said Lerner. Hamas, on the other hand, is threatening those responsible at the hospital and preventing goods from being brought in. Hamas rejects these allegations. The Islamists claim that they have rejected the fuel and at the same time criticize that the amount is not even enough to run the generators for more than thirty minutes.
Israel’s army spokesman speaks of a “huge challenge” with regard to civilian casualties
The European Union also condemned Hamas’ use of hospitals and civilians as shields. “Civilians must be allowed to leave the combat zone,” said a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on behalf of the EU on Sunday evening. “In this context, we demand Israel Urgently to exercise the greatest possible restraint in order to ensure the protection of the civilian population,” it continues.
Infographic: The situation in the Gaza Strip and Gaza City (as of November 11, 2023)
© DPA Infographic / rös / Sources: ISW, UN, Israeli Defense Forces, OSM-Mitw., dpa, Washington Post
“The civilian casualties in this war are a pure catastrophe,” emphasized army spokesman Lerner. “The civilians are paying a high price. A price that Hamas has decided with its decision to attack us (…). We have no alternative. We have to change this paradigm.” According to the spokesman, it is therefore “indispensable” that people evacuate the hospital. They try to coordinate, help and differentiate between non-combatant civilians and soldiers. It was “a huge challenge for any army,” the spokesman said, adding, “but we want to defeat Hamas and that brings us one step closer to our goal.”
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Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th, the Israeli military has been massively attacking targets in the Gaza Strip, and ground troops have now also entered the Palestinian territory. According to Hamas figures, which cannot be independently verified, 11,180 people were killed as of Sunday evening. Around half of the 2.4 million residents within the narrow coastal area are on the run.
Sources: “ZDF today-journal”, with agency material from DPA and AFP