ISRAELI tanks have surrounded another hospital in Gaza where the IDF alleges Hamas brutes are using civilians as human shields.
The siege at the Indonesian Hospital comes after 31 premature babies were evacuated from the city’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, beneath which Israel purports an elaborate web of tunnels exists.
ReutersSmoke rises following an Israeli strike near the Indonesian Hospital[/caption]
GettyInjured people including children are taken to Indonesian Hospital after an Israeli attack in Jabalia region[/caption]
AFPDamage around the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip[/caption]
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry claims Israeli forces struck the Indonesian Hospital on Monday, killing at least 12 people including patients.
Dozens more were said to have been wounded and 700 left trapped inside the “besieged” medical centre, according to a spokesman for the health ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra.
Israel has argued its forces are targeting “terror infrastructure” while Hamas denies using Gazan medical facilities for cover.
The general manager of Gaza’s health ministry Munner al-Bursh claimed on Monday morning that Israeli forces were continuing their attack on the Indonesian Hospital.
He told Al Jazeera that Israeli artillery started in the middle of the night, wounding doctors and killing 12 civilians.
About 700 patients and 5,000 refugees are based inside the hospital, and some 10,000 in shelters around it, Mr al-Bursh claimed.
Like most health facilities in the north of Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital has largely ceased operations and is being used predominantly as a refuge.
Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif said: “There is an overwhelming state of panic among patients. Victims are pilling up on the floor.”
Israeli attacks on the Indonesian Hospital were condemned by Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who called the advance a “clear violation of international humanitarian laws”.
She added: “All countries, especially those that have close relations with Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities to urge Israel to stop its atrocities.”
Meanwhile, 31 babies have been rescued from al-Shifa and are being transported over the Rafah border to safety in Egypt.
Israel alleges the terrorists are operating a sprawling command centre beneath al-Shifa Hospital.
New footage recorded with a remote camera appears to show a spiral staircase plunging down 20 feet to a massive “fortified” tunnel.
Israel said the clips proved Hamas is using al-Shifa to hide foreign hostages and conceal its tunnels.
It released further “proof” in the form of shocking CCTV video which appeared to show severely wounded Israeli citizens being hauled by Hamas terrorists into al-Shifa on stretchers.
The two male hostages, a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian, were kidnapped from Israeli territory.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters: “We have not yet located both of these hostages.”
Palestinian civilians have been caught in the brutal crossfire of Israel’s retaliation attacks on Hamas after the group’s militants unleashed their terror and murdered 1,200 civilians last month.
Israel has claimed the terrorists are attempting to use innocent families as “human shields”.
Some 1.5 million civilians have been forced to flee south amid Israel’s onslaught from land, air, and sea, by the Red Cross’ estimates.
Hamas’ health officials claim more than 11,000 civilians, including 4,500 children, have been killed in the conflict – though these figures remain unverified.
Israel disputes the numbers and US President Joe Biden said he has “no confidence” in them.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deaths must be blamed on Hamas, but admitted Israel had “not been successful” in reducing civilian casualties.