Israel–Hamas conflict: Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza has focused on the enclave’s largest hospital – al-Shifa hospital – where the Jewish state claims to have found Hamas tunnels. Now, amid the fierce operation, Israel has accused Hamas militants of killing an Israeli soldier inside the hospital and said they were holding two foreign hostages there, Reuters reports.
Israel intensified its crackdown by attacking al-Shifa hospital after claiming to have found Hama’s tunnels beneath the structure. According to Reuters, Al Shifa Hospital has been evacuating patients and staff since Israeli troops entered last week. Israel is searching for about 240 hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas and taken to Gaza after the October 7 surprise attack that started the war.
In a post on Twitter, the Israeli Defense Forces said, “On November 9, CPL Noah Marciano was injured by an IAF strike and the terrorist taking him hostage was killed. Following preliminary pathological reports, it was revealed that That Noa’s injuries were not life-threatening. Noa was murdered by a Hamas terrorist in Shifa Hospital. The IDF will continue to support the Marciano family and will work in every possible way to secure the return of the hostages home.”
On 9 November, CPL Noah Marciano was injured in an Indian Air Force strike and the terrorist holding her hostage was killed. Following the initial pathological report, it was revealed that Noah’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Noa was murdered by a Hamas terrorist in Shifa… https://t.co/11I9bAJf0j pic.twitter.com/F9W5gjJkIF
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) 19 November 2023
“Exposed: This documents Shifa Hospital between 10:42 am and 11:01 am on October 7, 2023, the day of the massacre, in which the hostages, a Nepalese national and a Thai national, were abducted by Israeli forces. “The hostages are seen surrounded by armed Hamas militants. One of the hostages is wounded and is being taken to a hospital bed and the other is walking,” the IDF said.
These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organization used the Shifa Hospital complex as terrorist infrastructure on the day of the October 7 massacre. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/2UzlpKrNnv
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) 19 November 2023
“These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organization used the Shifa hospital complex as terrorist infrastructure on the day of the October 7 massacre,” the IDF said.
Israel claimed one of them was Noah Marciano, a 19-year-old Israeli army soldier, whose body was found near the hospital last week. However, Hamas denied the allegations and said she was killed in an Israeli airstrike. The militant group also released a video showing his dead body, with no visible marks except an injury on the head.
The Israeli military said that forensic examination found that he had suffered non-life-threatening injuries from such an attack. Chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari was quoted by Reuters as saying, “According to intelligence – solid intelligence – Noa was taken by Hamas terrorists inside the walls of Shifa Hospital. There, a Hamas terrorist killed him Was.”
He said Hamas gunmen took a Nepali and a Thai to Shifa hospital, among the foreign workers kidnapped in the October 7 raid. However, Hagari did not reveal the names of the two hostages.
This comes as agencies have expressed concern over the threat to the lives of patients, especially infants, inside the hospital as tension remains in the area. According to health officials, 31 premature newborns were successfully transferred from Gaza’s main hospital to Egypt on Sunday to another hospital in the south, reports AP news agency.
The condition of the infants at Shifa Hospital attracted worldwide attention when photos emerged on social media of medics attempting to keep them warm. As Israeli soldiers battled Palestinian militants outside the hospital, power outages damaged incubators and other equipment and left food, water and medical supplies short.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “very sick” newborns, as well as six health professionals and ten staff family members, had been evacuated.
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