Thousands Trapped As Israeli Forces Surround Al-Shifa Hospital
Israel’s Military has closed in on the front gates of Gaza’s biggest hospital, where thousands of injured and displaced people are trapped amid intensive Israeli bombardment.
Israeli Forces had fully encircled the al-Shifa Hospital as of early on Saturday morning, preventing ambulances from entering or leaving the facility, where medical supplies and food are running low.
“They are attacking and destroying the front gates of the main medical complex in the Gaza Strip as patients and thousands of Palestinians are still residing inside the yard of this hospital,” Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said.
“Those people are really trapped right now by Israeli forces who are stationed in different sectors encircling the entire place. They are no longer able to move ambulances to bring victims and wounded people from the areas targeted. People are trapped and they lack food.”
Abu Azzoum said that Israeli snipers and artillery were also targeting anyone moving outside the hospital.
Al-Shifa Director Muhammad Abu Salmiya described the area around the hospital as a “battlefield”, but said the hospital’s staff have pledged to stay with patients until the “last moment”.
“We will not leave, because we know if we leave the hospital, dozens of patients will die,” Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera.
The escalating bombardment comes after an Israeli strike on the al-Shifa Hospital early on Friday killed at least 13 people and wounded several others, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-governed enclave.
ALJAZEERA
