New Delhi:
Israel intensified its operations at Gaza’s al Shifa hospital after reportedly discovering Hamas weapons and equipment. The United Nations and Middle Eastern countries condemned Israel’s raid on the hospital housing thousands, including newborns.
Here are 10 latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war:
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Israeli troops stormed into the al Shifa hospital on Wednesday and spent the day deepening their search. In a video, the Israel army showed automatic weapons, grenades, ammunition, and flak jackets it said were recovered from the hospital complex.
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“Tonight we conducted a targeted operation into Shifa Hospital. We continue to move forward,” Major General Yaron Finkelman, head of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, said on the army’s Telegram channel.
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Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of building a command centre in a tunnel network underneath the hospital – a claim the US says its own intelligence supports but Hamas denies. The Israeli Defence forces made no mention of finding any tunnel entrances in al Shifa after their searches.
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The Palestinean health ministry said that Israel has deployed bulldozers around the hospital.
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The United Nations estimates that at least 2,300 patients, staff, and displaced civilians are inside the hospital, including 36 newborns. Three premature babies died last week after the institution ran out of fuel to keep the incubators going.
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The al Shifa hospital director yesterday said water, electricity, and oxygen to all departments was cut off as the Israeli troops stormed into the premises.
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International concern over Israel’s attack on civilians in Gaza has increased since news of Israel’s raid on the hospital emerged. “The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff, and all civilians must override all other concerns. Hospitals are not battlegrounds,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on X.
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Qatar has sought “an urgent international investigation” involving the United Nations into Israeli troops targeting hospitals.
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Benjamin Netanyahu launched an offensive against Hamas, which rules Gaza, after terrorists rampaged through southern Israel on October 7. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and some 240 people taken hostage in the deadliest day of its 75-year-old history.
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Since then, Israel has put Gaza’s population of 2.3 million under siege and carried out an aerial bombardment. Gaza health officials, considered reliable by the United Nations, say about 11,500 Palestinians are confirmed killed, around 40% of them children, and more are buried under the rubble.