Israeli President Isaac Herzog has refuted reports of Israel striking Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, where staff members reported running out of electricity. Herzog, speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, asserted that “everything is operating” at the hospital.
Additionally, Herzog revealed the discovery of a translated copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf on the body of a Hamas fighter in northern Gaza. The president stated that this finding, occurring in a children’s room converted into a military base, indicated Hamas members embracing Hitler’s anti-Semitic ideology.
Amidst growing concerns about the dire conditions in Al-Shifa, the World Health Organization (WHO) initially lost communication but later restored contact. Despite reports from doctors and the Hamas-run health ministry citing shortages of fuel, water, and electricity, Herzog denied these claims, emphasizing that “there’s electricity in Shifa, everything is operating.”
Israel alleges that Hamas has a base beneath the hospital, a claim denied by the militant group. Surgeon Marwan Abu Saada previously reported critical shortages in water, food, and electricity at Al-Shifa.
In response to calls for a ceasefire, including from France’s President Macron, Herzog asserted Israel’s right to defend itself, acknowledging civilian deaths in Gaza but placing blame on Hamas for many tragedies. Israel’s operations, Herzog stated, adhere to international humanitarian law, with measures taken to alert civilians through phone calls and text messages.
The conflict has resulted in over 11,000 deaths in Gaza since the war’s onset, with more than 1.5 million people displaced, according to the Hamas-run health ministry and the United Nations’ Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa). The offensive follows Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7, prompting fierce fighting in the northern part of Gaza. Source : BBC
