ANDIn parallel, the press office of the Gaza authorities, controlled by Hamas, accused the Israeli military of beating and detaining several journalists inside this hospital, and considered that the Israeli Army “has total responsibility for the safety and lives of workers in the ‘media’ that he took to an unknown destination”.
According to Israeli military officials, “the security forces killed the head of Hamas’ internal security department”, Faaq Mabhu, after the intelligence services reported “the presence of senior Hamas officials” at the facilities.
The military says that “Faaq Mabhu was killed “in an exchange of fire” inside the hospital complex where he “worked to promote terrorist activities”, before stressing that “he was responsible, among other things, for synchronizing Hamas mechanisms in the Strip of Gaza in routine and fighting”.
The statement from the Gaza authorities reveals that the military “arrested a group of journalists and media workers who were covering the Israeli aggression inside the Al Shifa hospital and reporting on the suffering of the Palestinian people, the wounded, the sick and the hungry.”
“We condemn in the strongest terms these flagrant violations committed by the occupying Army”, the statement continues, before also holding the United States and the international community responsible for the safety of these journalists.
The text also issues an appeal to international media organizations, including the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), which “exert all forms of pressure on the occupation to end its genocidal war” and denounced that since the beginning of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on October 7th, 135 journalists were killed.
A few hours earlier, Israeli Army spokesman Daniel Hagari had announced a “precise operation” at Al Shifa hospital, the largest hospital complex in the Gaza Strip, claiming that he had secret service information about the use of the building by prominent Hamas terrorists, and also specify that “the war is against Hamas and not against the people of Gaza”.
In response, authorities in the Gaza Strip accused the Israeli Army of committing “flagrant war crimes” in its military incursion”, and with Hamas stating that the military “attacks directly the hospital buildings, without concern for the patients, the doctors or the displaced people inside”.
That day, 1,139 people were killed, mostly civilians but also close to 400 soldiers, according to the latest official Israeli figures. Around 240 civilians and military personnel were kidnapped, with Israel indicating that more than 120 remain in the Gaza Strip.
In retaliation, Israel, which promised to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, has since been bombing the Gaza Strip, where, according to the local government led by Hamas, at least 31,700 people have been killed — mostly women, children and teenagers — and more than 70,000 injured, also mostly civilians.
UN agencies also indicate that at least 160 employees have been killed in Gaza since October 7th.
The Israeli offensive has also destroyed most of Gaza’s infrastructure and close to two million people have been forced to leave their homes, almost all of the enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants.
The population of the Gaza Strip is also facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the collapse of hospitals, the outbreak of epidemics and shortages of drinking water, food, medicine and electricity.
Since October 7, at least 418 Palestinians have also been killed by the Israeli Army and by attacks by settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories occupied by the Jewish State, in addition to nearly 7,000 arrests and more than 3,000 injuries.
Read Also: Israel: Number of deaths in Gaza due to malnutrition rises to 25
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