Israeli soldiers have stormed Gaza City’s main hospital to root out the Hamas terrorists US intelligence said are hiding in the underground command centre,

 

 

Dozens of Israeli soldiers, some wearing face masks and shooting in the air, entered the Al-Shifa hospital early Wednesday morning in a ‘precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area’ of the facility, the IDF said, in what could be a pivotal moment in the bloody war.

 

 

Israeli soldiers and tanks had surrounded the hospital in recent days, where the IDF and US have insisted Hamas are hiding in underground tunnels beneath the building and using the patients as human shields – claims the terrorists deny. 

 

 

The operation will prove if Hamas terrorists have indeed based their secret headquarters underneath the hospital while using the most vulnerable civilians as human shields.

 

 

However, the move to enter the hospital by Israeli forces could see civilians, patients, and doctors in the middle of the fierce battles. 

 

 

The Al-Shifa hospital, which the World Health Organisation has said is turning into a ‘cemetery’, has been a primary target for Israeli troops in their battle to seize control of the northern half of the Gaza Strip. Medics and the hundreds of civilians trapped inside have told how newborn babies and patients are dying for lack of fuel. 

 

 

Now, Israeli tanks have rolled into the medical compound while scores of soldiers and commandos stormed buildings including the emergency and surgery departments, which house intensive care units, as patients screamed in terror, medics trapped inside said.

 

 

After sharp warnings from the US and others that Al-Shifa must be protected, Israel said the raid was being executed based on ‘an operational necessity’. 

 

 

Their aim will be to enter the 300-mile network of tunnels the IDF and US intelligence say are underneath the hospital to annihilate the terrorists who rampaged through Israel and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. They will also be searching for some of the 240 people who were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.