There have been reports of tanks and gunfire at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza during an overnight attack by Israeli forces.
The Israel Defense Forces were conducting a “high precision operation in limited areas” of the hospital, according to a representative for the force.
According to the IDF, “senior Hamas terrorists have regrouped” within the hospital and are using it as a base of operations.
Witnesses in Gaza City reported seeing a panicked state of affairs within the compound.
“Tanks are surrounding us. We are hiding inside the tent. We hear tank fire in the vicinity of the compound,” one man said in a recorded call with his brother posted on a WhatsApp group and heard by the BBC.
Unverified social media footage showed the hospital surrounded by a lot of gunshots.
In another voice message sent to journalists from inside the hospital, Muhammad Al-Sayyid said: “The soldiers here inside the complex there are dead and wounded, and the soldiers arrested some young men. The situation here is catastrophic.”
The IDF had not announced its intention to begin a military operation at al-Shifa beforehand.
IDF chief spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari stated in a video message released in the early hours of the day that the Israeli military was reacting to “concrete intelligence which demanded immediate action”.
He assured workers and patients that there was no need for them to leave and that the hospital would be able to carry on with operations during the attack.
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He called on Hamas to “surrender immediately” and stated that those who have been displaced and taken refuge within the complex would be free to exit the hospital through an evacuation route.
In a statement, the Gaza Health Ministry, which is under Hamas control, described the operation as a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”.
Following an Israeli military incursion earlier in the war, hundreds of Palestinians who have been displaced are taking refuge at the hospital.
Prior to the conflict, Al-Shifa Hospital served as Gaza’s primary medical institution; however, following months of fighting, its operations have been seriously hampered.
Under international humanitarian law, hospitals are protected during times of conflict; however, in some situations, this protection may be revoked if the hospital is being used to carry out a “act harmful to the enemy”.
The militant group backed by Iran, Hamas, has long been accused by Israel of utilizing medical institutions as a front for its operations, an accusation it disputes.
The IDF claimed to have discovered weapons and a network of tunnels beneath the hospital that Hamas had deployed during its November 2023 raid on al-Shifa.
In February, Israeli troops conducted a significant military offensive on the premises of Nasser Hospital, the second-largest medical facility in Gaza.
Doctors disclosed to the BBC they were detained, blindfolded, and beaten during the raid, reports which prompted the UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron to call for “answers from the Israelis”.
The IDF said it found weapons and evidence hostages had been held at the facility during its raid into Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 other people hostage. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 31,300 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since then.
