Gaza hospital director says not a single bullet fired at Israeli troops from Al-Shifa 

The director general of hospitals in the Gaza Strip has confirmed that not a single bullet was fired from within Al-Shifa Hospital Complex during the Israeli army’s storming of the site at dawn today.

“The occupation forces stormed the surgical and emergency buildings in Al-Shifa Complex, entered the emergency department, and are now searching the hospital’s basement,” Dr Muhammad Zaqout told Al-Jazeera. “They opened fire on those leaving from the hallway that the army claimed was a safe exit from Al-Shifa.” No evidence of any resistance fighters using the hospital was found by the Israeli army, he added. The army has had the complex surrounded by tanks and snipers for six days.

Al-Shifa Hospital has 1,500 medical staff members, 700 patients, 39 premature babies and 7,000 displaced people at the moment, the government media office in Gaza told the media. The Israeli army claims that Al-Shifa and other hospitals have “Hamas command centres” within them. This is denied by the hospitals and the resistance groups.

READ: Over half of Gaza’s hospitals are out of service

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip, especially in the north, are constantly targeted by Israeli bombing, which exacerbates the catastrophic situation, especially given the siege imposed on hospitals and healthcare centres and the lack of fuel, leading to the death of sick and wounded people, including children.

The Israeli army has killed 11,320 Palestinians in the past 40 days of its war against the Gaza Strip, including 4,650 children and 3,145 women. Almost 30,000 have been wounded, 70 per cent of whom are children and women, according to official Palestinian sources on Tuesday evening.

Hamas is alleged to have killed 1,200 Israelis and wounded 5,431 since 7 October, according to official Israeli sources. However, it has since been exposed that many of those killed were actually killed by Israeli helicopter gunships and tanks, which targeted Hamas fighters and Israelis without distinction. The resistance movement also captured up to 250 Israelis, including high-ranking military personnel, and wants to exchange them with the more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, including children and women, held by Israel.

READ: Rights activist returns award over US support for genocide in Gaza