Israeli soldiers on Wednesday raided and then combed through Gaza’s main hospital, raising fears for thousands of patients and other civilians trapped inside.
Both Israel and its top ally the United States claim Hamas fighters have a command center below the Al-Shifa complex, a charge denied by Hamas and leaders of the hospital.
Israeli soldiers, some wearing face masks, shot in the air and ordered young men to surrender, a journalist trapped inside the hospital told AFP.
About 1,000 Palestinian men, hands above their heads, were in the vast hospital courtyard, some of them stripped naked by Israeli soldiers checking them for weapons or explosives, the same source added.
Israeli troops then withdrew from the facility and redeployed around its outskirts, the journalist confirmed.
“They told us we wouldn’t reach the outskirts of Gaza City and we did, they told us we wouldn’t enter Al-Shifa (hospital) and we did,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said hours after the raid, adding “there is no place in Gaza that we won’t reach.”
The United Nations has said it estimates that at least 2,300 people — patients, staff and displaced civilians — are inside the hospital, and may be unable to escape.
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