The Israeli army says its forces are still at Al-Shifa hospital

The news network Al Jazeera said one of its journalists was held for 12 hours. Said the journalist, Ismail al-Ghoul, had been severely beaten. The Israeli military has not responded to the allegations outrage of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Gaza Ministry of Health condemned the raid as a “crime against health institutions,” and humanitarian organizations expressed concern about the situation in the complex. The hospital, together with the surrounding area, housed 30,000 patients, medical staff and displaced civilians.

“Hospitals should never be a battlefield,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. a message on social media warned that the situation “endangered health workers, patients and citizens.

Doctors Without Borders said it was “extremely concerned” about the safety of patients and medical staff at the hospital complex. In a statement On Monday, the organization urged “all warring parties to respect the grounds and perimeter of the hospital and ensure the safety of medical staff, patients and citizens.”

Israel has said the hospital complex served as a secret military command center for Hamas, calling it one of many examples of civilian facilities used by Hamas to protect its activities.

Four months ago, Israeli forces stormed the complex and found a tunnel shaft that they said supported their claim that the armed group had used it to conceal military operations.

Since then, Israel has withdrawn many troops from northern Gaza and shifted the focus of its invasion south. As a result, lawlessness has increasingly taken hold in the north, prompting international aid agencies to suspend operations despite a serious humanitarian crisis.

The Biden administration has become increasingly critical of Israel’s warfare and the toll it is taking on civilians. On Monday, President Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said said that “more innocent civilians have been killed in this conflict, during this military operation, than in all the wars in Gaza combined, including thousands of children.”

“A humanitarian crisis has unfolded across Gaza, and anarchy reigns in areas that the Israeli army has vacated but not stabilized,” he said.

Gabby Sobelman And Rawan Sheikh Ahmad reporting contributed.