(Reuters) – Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson warned on Wednesday of a potential Israeli raid on the enclave’s Al Shifa hospital complex, saying Israel informed Gaza health officials that its forces would raid the facility.
The Israeli military, asked for comment, said it was looking into the matter.
The Gaza health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, told Al Jazeera that Israel “informed us that it will raid Al Shifa hospital complex in the coming minutes.”
But he added: “The occupation did not specify whether (its forces) would enter the complex. But it said that within a few minutes it would raid the complex. We do not know how it will raid it or what mechanism will be used, nor do we know (Israel’s) intentions with the raid.”
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the situation at Al Shifa.
Israeli forces have surrounded Al Shifa, Gaza’s biggest hospital, after waging fierce street battles with Hamas fighters they accuse of having a command post under the complex. The U.S. on Tuesday cited intelligence backing Israel’s assertion, but Hamas denies it.
(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Leslie Adler and Howard Goller)
