Is Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital a Hamas base, as Israel claims?
Gaza’s largest medical facility, al-Shifa hospital, was stormed by Israeli troops in the early hours in what they called “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas” in a “specified area” of the complex.
Israel’s military has long contended that underneath the hospital lies Hamas’s command and control headquarters, although this is the first operation in which ground troops have raided al-Shifa. Hamas and medical staff have denied the claims.
That al-Shifa is the scene of a humanitarian catastrophe can be in no doubt, as the hospital, like the rest of Gaza’s health system, collapses under Israel’s blockade.
Israel pins the blame for al-Shifa’s and Gaza’s plight on Hamas, whom it accuses of withholding fuel from the hospital for military purposes and using its facilities as
