Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday pushed back against calls from Western allies to do more to protect Palestinian civilians, as troops encircled Gaza’s largest hospital where doctors said five patients died, including a premature baby, after the last generator ran out of fuel.
Israel has portrayed al-Shifa Hospital as Hamas’ main command post, saying that militants were using civilians as human shields there and had set up elaborate bunkers underneath it.
“There is no electricity. Medical devices stopped. Patients, especially those in intensive care, started to die,” said al-Shifa director Mohammed Abu Selmia, speaking by telephone over the sound of gunfire and explosions.
Photo: AFP
Israeli troops were “shooting at anyone outside or inside the hospital,” and prevented movement between the buildings in the compound, Abu Selmia said.
The claim that Israeli troops were the sole source of fire could not be verified independently.
Asked about reports of troops firing into the al-Shifa courtyard, Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner would only say that troops are “in the midst of ongoing intense fighting against Hamas in the vicinity of the area in question.”
Photo: AFP
The military takes all feasible measures to prevent harm to civilians, he said.
Five patients died after the generator shut down, including a premature baby, said Medhat Abbas, a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry.
Israel has been opening the main road leading south each day for several hours to allow civilians to flee.
Yesterday, the Israeli military for the first time announced a brief pause in combat as part of an evacuation window, specifically naming the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya next to Gaza City.
Netanyahu said that while Israel has urged civilians to leave combat zones, “Hamas is doing everything it can to prevent them from leaving.”
His statement came after French President Emmanuel Macron pushed for a ceasefire and urged other leaders to join his call, telling the BBC there was “no justification” for Israel’s ongoing bombing.
“Far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too many have suffered these past weeks,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in India on Friday.
However, he reaffirmed US support for Israel’s campaign to ensure that Gaza can no longer be used “as a platform for launching terrorism.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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