IDF Seizes Shifa Hospital, Claims Hamas Leader Killed in Firefight

Update (1116 EST): The IDF has announced that 20 have been killed with dozens arrested and under investigation after completing its mission at Shifa Hospital. At least nine bodies have been removed from the hospital as of this post. The IDF has also announced that only one soldier has been killed. However, the Al-Qassam Brigades have counterclaimed that they have caused “deaths and injuries” among the IDF personnel involved in the operation.

At approximately 2030 EST on 17 Mar 24, the IDF began operations to take control of Shifa Hospital, Gaza City. By 2100 EST, IDF forces had surrounded the hospital and strikes commenced on the upper floors of the compound. Heavy gunfire and explosions rattled the complex as the IDF urged civilians to not approach windows and move to the first floor. The IDF announced on its official Telegram page that it was conducting a raid on the hospital to capture a high-ranking Hamas official reported to be in the hospital.

By 2200 EST, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry took to social media to lambast the Israeli operation. The first public message reads below:

“We hold the Israeli occupation responsible for the lives of medical staff, patients and displaced people inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex. What the occupation forces are doing against Al-Shifa Medical Complex is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Hanif Convention.. The Israeli occupation is still using its fabricated narratives to deceive the world and to justify the storming of Al-Shifa Medical Complex. Israeli military offensive aims to continue destroying the health system in northern Gaza. We call on the international community to reject the practices of the Israeli occupation against Al-Shifa Medical Complex and Gaza hospitals?. We call on UN institutions to go immediately to Al-Shifa Medical Complex to protect it, protect everyone inside it, and prevent the specific Israeli targeting of it?.”