Red Crescent alleges IDF surrounds additional Gaza hospitals, IDF denies claim but admits fighting in vicinity

The Red Crescent in the Gaza Strip claimed that Israeli forces had encircled the Nasser and Al Amal hospitals in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis on Sunday.

"All of our teams are in extreme danger at the moment and are completely immobilized," the local Red Crescent said in an official statement. It further claimed that Israeli soldiers demanded a complete evacuation of patients and staff members from the Al Amal Hospital while firing smoke bombs into the area.

Israel Defense Forces denied that its troops had surrounded or targeted the hospitals, however, affirmed that its soldiers were engaged in a battle against armed terrorists near the hospitals.

The IDF noted that there may be an indirect impact because Hamas terrorists had been operating from within and close to hospitals and other civilian structures.

Last week, Israeli forces launched a “targeted operation” in Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s main hospital, in search of senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist (PIJ) operatives. Terrorists began firing at IDF troops from within the hospital facilities.

IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari emphasized that Hamas continues to exploit hospitals and other civilian structures for its terrorist activities, in flagrant violation of international law.

“We know that senior Hamas terrorists have regrouped inside the hospital and are using it to command attacks against Israel,” Hagari said last week.

“We seek no harm to the civilians Hamas is hiding behind,” the senior IDF official stressed. “We call upon all Hamas terrorists hiding in (the) hospital: Surrender immediately. Medical facilities should never be exploited for terror. Hamas must be held accountable,” Hagari stated.

During that operation, Israeli forces captured over 800 terrorist suspects in the Shifa Hospital compound. It turned out that more than half, nearly 500 of those captured, were members of Hamas and PIJ, reportedly including some high-level Hamas and PIJ leaders.

IDF soldier Sgt. First Class Lior Raviv was killed on Saturday during the battle with Hamas terrorists in the Shifa Hospital compound.

Mourning her son, Lior’s mother Shirli him as “a strong leader.”

“I always relied on him in every situation that he knew what to do,” she told the Army Radio. “He had an especially good heart. So many friends, his siblings all admired him.”

Some governments and international organizations have criticized Israel for entering hospitals in Gaza but fail to condemn Hamas for deliberately exploiting hospitals, schools, mosques and civilian homes, using them as hideouts and for storing weapons.

In November, the Israeli army released video evidence that Palestinian terrorists in Gaza were holding some Israeli hostages at Shifa Hospital.

In a recent interview with NewsNation, former hostage Judith Raanan, who is also an American citizen, revealed that nurses at Shif cheered when Hamas operatives brought in the hostages from Israel.

“They were all so happy that they came back with prey, with Israeli, Jewish prey,” Raanan recalled.