‘Hospitals must be protected,’ says Biden amidst Israeli attacks on Gaza

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US President Joe Biden has expressed worry about the safety of hospitals in Gaza amid Israel’s claim that Hamas is using them for coordinating attacks, CNN reported.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) previously suggested that hospitals could lose their protection from attack under international law if used for terror purposes. 

“When medical facilities are used for terror purposes, they are liable to lose their protection from attack in accordance with international law,” an IDF spokesperson said two weeks ago, appearing to suggest such hospitals are on Israel’s target list.

A US official, echoing IDF accusations, mentioned that Hamas has a command node under Al-Shifa hospital.President Biden on Monday voiced concern about the Hamas-controlled enclave’s hospitals.

He said, “Well, you know, I have not been reluctant to express my concern with what’s going on, and it’s my hope and expectation that there will be less intrusive action relative to the hospitals; we’re in contact with the Israelis.”

Biden also added that there is an effort to take “this pause to deal with the release of prisoners, and that’s being negotiated as well, and the Qataris are engaged, so I remain somewhat hopeful, but the hospitals must be protected.”Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors without Borders, reported ongoing hostilities around Al-Shifa, hindering evacuations and making ambulance journeys perilous. Despite Israel opening an evacuation corridor, no one reportedly left, with the hospital director citing fear among the people.In an interview, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed there’s “no reason” patients can’t be evacuated from Al-Shifa. 

The hospital’s dire situation, lack of fuel and electricity, and refusal of mandatory evacuation orders by doctors further escalate the humanitarian crisis.The condition is deteriorating in Gaza’s major hospitals, Al-Shifa and Al-Quds, due to the lack of fuel and electricity amid the ongoing Israeli forces’ assault. 

Both hospitals are non-functional, CNN reported, citing Palestinian officials.Doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital are resisting an IDF mandatory evacuation order, stating that about 700 patients would die if left behind, according to the director-general of the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.

Israel asserts justification for military actions around the hospitals, despite criticism from the UN and others. A US official, citing American intelligence, told CNN that Hamas has a command node under Al-Shifa, using hospital fuel, and its fighters regularly gather in and around the facility.The accusation of a Hamas command center under Al-Shifa has been denied by Hamas and hospital officials, creating a complex backdrop to the escalating crisis in Gaza.

At least 11,180 Palestinians, including 4,609 children and 3,100 women, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank. Additionally, 53 ambulances have been disabled, CNN reported the ministry as saying.