Gaza’s ruling group says the White House has given Israel the green light “to commit more massacres against civilians.”
US President Joe Biden is “fully responsible” for the Israeli attack on Gaza’s largest hospital, said Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules the enclave.
The accusation was made in a statement Wednesday, a day after the White House said U.S. intelligence sources had corroborated Israel’s claims that Hamas buried an operations center beneath the hospital.
“We hold the occupation (Israel) and President Biden fully responsible for the assault on the al-Shifa medical complex,” Hamas said.
“The White House and Pentagon’s embrace of the occupation’s false claim that the resistance is using the Al-Shifa medical complex for military purposes has given the occupation a green light to commit more massacres against civilians,” the statement continued.
Israeli forces said Wednesday morning they were carrying out a “precise and targeted operation” against a suspected Hamas command center under al-Shifa, where thousands of civilians are sheltering.
Youssef Abul Reesh, a Hamas-run health ministry official inside the hospital, told the AFP news agency that he could see tanks inside the complex and “dozens of soldiers and commandos inside the emergency and reception buildings”.
After stern warnings from the United States and other countries that al-Shifa must be protected, Israel said the raid was being carried out on the basis of “operational necessity.”
Israel has repeatedly asserted that Hamas’ military use of the facility “jeopardizes its protected status under international law” – a claim that many international human rights lawyers refute.
Ardi Imseis, an international law expert at Queen’s University in Canada, told Al Jazeera that Israel has a history of presenting dubious and unverifiable evidence to the international community.
Imseis added that the onus is on Israel to “produce evidence” and prove its claim that the hospital was used by Hamas as a base.
“The object of the attack is civilian property. Until the Israelis provide proof that it has been converted into a military object, the civilian nature of the object does not change,” he said.
According to medical staff, around 650 patients remain hospitalized. According to the Health Ministry, another 5,000 to 7,000 displaced civilians are trapped within the hospital grounds and under constant fire from Israeli snipers and drones.
Spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told Al Jazeera Arabic that “there are only doctors, patients and displaced people” inside al-Shifa. “We have nothing to fear or hide.”
The White House expressed concern shortly after the raid began.
“We are not in favor of an airstrike against a hospital and we do not want to see an exchange of fire in a hospital,” said a spokesperson for the National Security Council.
The official added that there should not be a situation where “innocent people, defenseless people, sick people trying to get the medical care they deserve are caught in the crossfire.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas in response to its attacks on southern Israel on October 7, which killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 240 captives to Gaza.
Since then, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 11,300 people.
