Israel Threatens To Destroy Al-Shifa Medical Complex With People Inside

The Israeli army threatened to destroy the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in northern Gaza with medical teams and patients inside, media office in the enclave said on Saturday.

"We received testimonies from inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex indicating that the Israeli occupation army threatened the medical staff and the displaced people sheltering there that it would destroy the hospital buildings with them inside," Gaza media office said in a statement.

The army demanded that the Palestinians inside the hospital "head out for torture, investigation, and execution," it added.

Israel first raided Al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in the territory that houses thousands of patients and displaced people, last November, arguing that Palestinian group Hamas used it as a command center. The latest attack began on Monday.

The media office condemned the "organized crime" that the Israeli army continues to commit "with all brutality and vengeance." It held the American administration and the international community "fully responsible" for the raids.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and nearly 74,300 injured besides causing mass destruction, displacement and conditions of famine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues that "we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah" in southern Gaza Strip, and that "we would do this with US support but if necessary – we will do it alone."

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi -