Israeli President Isaac Herzog has denied that Israel is striking the largest hospital in Gaza.
Reports from Al-Shifa staff indicate that the hospital, which houses thousands of Palestinians, has been left without electricity, and that none of the operating rooms are working as a result. However, Herzog said that “everything is operating” in the hospital.
Speaking to the BBC, he also noted that a copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” book had been found on the body of a Hamas fighter in northern Gaza. Herzog said a copy of the book translated into Arabic was found just days ago in a children’s room that had been converted into a Hamas military base of operations. Finding a copy of it in northern Gaza, Herzog said, showed that some in Hamas “learned again and again Adolf Hitler’s ideology of hating the Jews”.
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it had lost communication with its contacts in Al-Shifa. WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus later said contact had been re-established but warned of dire conditions inside. He repeated calls for a ceasefire and said the hospital had been without electricity and water for three days.
Doctors and the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza have said a lack of fuel there means patients cannot undergo surgery and incubators for premature babies cannot operate. Herzog disputed this.
“We deny it at all, there is a lot of spin by Hamas… There is electricity in Shifa, everything is operating,” Herzog said.
He also spoke about whether Israel went too far in its response to the October 7th attack by Hamas.
“We are working exactly in accordance with the rules of international humanitarian law. We are alarming every civilian because their homes have become bases of terror,” claims Herzog, Klix.ba reports.
Photo:Avi Ohayon/ Government Press Office
