Thousands have fled the hospital because the outbreak of battle, however round 650 sufferers and 500 workers – together with round 2,500 displaced Palestinians – are thought to nonetheless be in al Shifa, based on UN estimates.

Israel has launched an in a single day raid on Gaza’s largest medical facility, al Shifa hospital.

Israeli forces mentioned they entered a “specified area” of the medical advanced for a “precise and targeted” operation “towards Hamas“.

The raid got here hours after the US backed Israel’s claims that the medical facility had been utilized by Hamas as a base of operations.

Hamas – which flatly denied the claims – blamed US President Joe Biden and his administration for the Israeli raid, saying that the “adopting” of the allegations had successfully given Israel the “green light” to launch the operation.

However, in an announcement, the White House mentioned it didn’t assist air strikes on the hospital and that it “did not want to see” a firefight inside the power.

The White House additionally urged that sufferers “must be protected” through the raid.

Follow live: Israeli forces enter al Shifa hospital in ‘targeted operation’

While 1000’s have fled the hospital because the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas battle, round 650 sufferers and 500 workers – together with round 2,500 displaced Palestinians – are thought to nonetheless be in al Shifa, based on UN estimates.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, mentioned their intelligence put the variety of folks nonetheless inside the power at round 1,000.

However, he advised CNN that Israeli forces had been “not overrunning the hospital” and as an alternative had been finishing up a focused operation in a “specific location” of the al Shifa medical advanced.

He didn’t give additional particulars of the “complex” operation, however mentioned it was a “military necessity” primarily based on Israeli and US intelligence.

He additionally mentioned IDF forces would “perhaps” rescue a number of the estimated 240 hostages who had been taken into Gaza throughout Hamas’s assault on Israel on 7 October.

Israel has repeatedly claimed that al Shifa – a big medical advanced in Gaza City – together with different hospitals, have been used as bases by Hamas.

It has beforehand threatened to focus on al Shifa and has warned concerning the potential for the power to lose its safety below worldwide humanitarian regulation if used to cover fighters or retailer weapons.

On Monday, President Biden mentioned that the hospital “must be protected” and mentioned it was his “expectation” that there can be “less intrusive action”.

However, on Tuesday, the White House’s nationwide safety council spokesperson, John Kirby, mentioned the US had its personal intelligence that confirmed Hamas had been working out of al Shifa.

Hamas responded to “strongly condemn and reject the claims”. However, hours later, the IDF introduced it had launched its “targeted operation” on the hospital.

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In an announcement asserting the raid, the IDF mentioned it had “publicly warned time and again that Hamas’ continued military use of the hospital jeopardised its protected status under international law”.

“Yesterday [Monday], the IDF conveyed to the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours,” the Israeli navy mentioned in an announcement.

“Unfortunately, they did not.”

The IDF urged any Hamas fighters within the hospital to give up instantly.

In response, Hamas mentioned it held Israel, President Biden, and his administration, “fully responsible for the repercussions of the occupation army’s storming of the Shifa Medical Complex, and what the medical staff and thousands of displaced people are exposed to, as a result of this brutal crime against a health facility protected by international law”.

The raid got here amid claims of a humanitarian disaster on the hospital, which has been encircled by Israeli troops.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry mentioned 32 sufferers, together with three infants, had died because the hospital’s emergency generator ran out of gas on Saturday.

On Monday, the ministry launched photos of a few dozen untimely infants wrapped in blankets collectively on a mattress to maintain them heat.

Israel’s navy mentioned it was working to deliver incubators into Gaza and on Tuesday shared a picture displaying a soldier unloading incubators from a van.

The navy didn’t make it clear if the incubators had been delivered or how they might be powered.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, at the least 11,255 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its retaliatory strikes after the 7 October assault.