New Delhi: Israeli forces launched an hours-long overnight raid at al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest hospital, on Wednesday, calling it a “precise and targeted operation” against Hamas. Dr. Munir al-Bursh, the general director of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces searched the basement of al-Shifa and entered the surgical and emergency buildings within the complex.During the raid, the Israel Defense Forces said it found ‘military and combat equipment’ inside the compound which it said was part of a Hamas command operations center located beneath the complex.Hamas denied the claim and said it was “nothing but a continuation of the lies and cheap propaganda, through which [Israel] is trying to give justification for its crime aimed at destroying the health sector in Gaza.”Thousands of civilians are taking shelter in the hospital. According to health officials, there are about 650 patients, including 22 in intensive care and 36 premature babies, at al-Shifa Hospital, in addition to about 400 medical staff and more than 2,000 displaced people.The UN said only one of 24 hospitals with in-patient capacity currently remains operational and admitting new patients in the north of the Gaza Strip. 18 hospitals in total have shut down and evacuated patients and staff, and five others, including al-Shifa Hospital, can only provide limited care to patients who are already admitted.Gaza’s two main telecommunications companies, Paltel and Jawwal, warned of a “complete telecom blackout in the coming hours” on Wednesday. Due to the collapse in communications and in-hospital services in Gaza, the Ministry of Health in Gaza did not update the death toll for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday, according to the UN humanitarian relief agency OCHA. As of Nov. 10, the death toll was 11,078.Amid the Israeli ground invasion, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are also struggling to secure food and water. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNWRA, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday: “Our entire operation is now on the verge of collapse,” and that “by the end of today, around 70% of the population in Gaza won’t have access to clean water.”
