The Israel Air Force's reconnaissance Shaldag Unit and other special units under the command of the IDF's 36th Armoured Division continue to operate in what the IDF described as a "targeted manner" in the area of the Shifa hospital in Gaza, where they search for infrastructure and means o
"We have information that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa, and tunnels underneath them to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages," spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a briefing.
The IDF reported that its forces are operating in what was described as a targeted manner at Shiaa Hospital in Gaza. While under fire, the IDF forces delivered medical equipment, incubators and baby food on behalf of the State of Israel to Shifa Hospital.
Amid intense Israeli strikes near and at medical facilities, the United Nations has expressed concern over the fact that only one hospital is functioning in northern Gaza, CNN reported on Tuesday.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) previously suggested that hospitals could lose their protection from attack under international law if used for terror purposes.
The IDF said troops, with air support, returned fire at the Hamas operatives, killing 21 of them. No troops were hurt but one tank was damaged by an RPG.
The European Union has called for immediate pauses in hostilities and the establishment of humanitarian corridors, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said in a statement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it is working with with Gaza's hospital staff to provide safe passage southward for Gazans from Shifa Hospital.
Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health that the doctors in the neonatal ward are now being forced to carry out artificial respiration by hand on the 36 babies that they are treating in the hospital.
Some veterans of wartime medicine in Gaza said that the conditions inside the overcrowded and impoverished territory are the worst they have ever seen, as entire apartment blocks, schools and hospitals crumble.
The Israeli military has fully encircled Gaza City and is carrying out widespread air strikes on Hamas targets, said Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari on Sunday night.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on Saturday voiced his anguish over the suspected air strike on a convoy of ambulances outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.