srael renewed its operation at Gaza’s largest hospital Thursday, targeting what it maintains is a Hamas command centre concealed in a complex sheltering more than 2,000 civilians.<\/p>\n
“Tonight we conducted a targeted operation into Shifa hospital. We continue to move forward,” Major General Yaron Finkelman, the head of Israeli military operations in Gaza, said in a social media post.<\/p>\n
Gaza’s health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, said Thursday that Israeli bulldozers had “destroyed parts of the southern entrance” of the hospital.<\/p>\n
Both Israel and its top ally the United States say Hamas have a command centre below the Al-Shifa complex, which has become a focal point in the 40-day-old war.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian militant group and directors at the hospital have denied the charge.<\/p>\n
Before Israeli forces first stormed the hospital complex on Wednesday, UN agencies estimated that 2,300 patients, staff and displaced civilians were sheltering at Al-Shifa.<\/p>\n
“The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said. “Hospitals are not battlegrounds.”<\/p>\n