The Israeli army stormed at dawn on Wednesday the Shifa Medical Complex, the largest

 hospital in the Gaza Strip, where more than two thousand people are still stuck, after days

 of violent battles in its vicinity, during which it was shelled by the advancing Israeli army

 reinforced with tanks, after Israel accused Hamas of using it for military purposes, which the

 movement denies.

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Edited by| Paul Mitchel

 

Humanity  section -  CJ journalist

Gaza conflict news section  

 

Gaza Strip - November,15,2023

 

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The IDF announced that its units "are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against

 Hamas in a specific area at Shifa hospital, based on intelligence information and operational

 necessities," and that its units "include medical staff and Arabic speakers who have

 undergone specific training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, in order

 not to cause any harm to civilians used by Hamas as human shields.

The United Nations estimates that there are at least 2,300 people inside the compound,

 including patients, medical staff members and many displaced people, who are likely to be

 unable to leave due to the violent battles taking place in its surroundings.

Earlier, humanitarian organizations said that people in the hospital were shot as they tried to

 leave.

The conditions inside the complex were difficult, especially in light of the power outage for

 days.

The director of the hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, said that at least" 179 bodies "were

 buried in a" mass grave " in the courtyard of the complex, explaining that among them were

 seven premature babies who died as a result of the power outage.

"We had to bury them in a mass grave," he added, noting that "the bodies are scattered in

 the corridors of the hospital and the electricity is cut off from the morgue refrigerators,"

 with no amount of fuel entering the Strip since the war began on the seventh of October.

He pointed out that the number of deaths in the intensive care unit has reached 29 since last

 Saturday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday expressed its "deep

 concern" about the consequences of the Israeli army's storming of the Shifa Medical

 Complex, the largest in the Gaza Strip. "Patients, medical staff and civilians must be

 protected at all times," the ICRC said, adding that it was in contact with the "relevant

 authorities".

The executive director of the United Nations Children's fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, on

 Wednesday condemned the tragic scenes she saw during a visit to the Gaza Strip in the

 midst of the war between Israel and Hamas, demanding to "stop this horror".

Russell, who visited the southern Gaza Strip, said: "what I saw and heard was heartbreaking.

 They endured shelling, loss and repeated displacement. Inside the Gaza Strip, there is no

 safe place for the one million children of Gaza to take refuge," she said, adding that "only

 the parties to the conflict can really stop this horror".