2023-11-14 19:50:07
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the United States wants to safely evacuate Gaza hospital patients to avoid harm, and will support an independent third party to conduct evacuations, according to Archyde.com.
Miller added during a press conference in Washington that the United States does not want to see any civilians, “certainly not children in incubators” and other vulnerable populations, caught in the crossfire.
The spokesman said that the United States is currently in talks with relief organizations and third parties regarding a possible evacuation.
Meanwhile, the White House announced that it had special intelligence that Hamas was using Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza to run its military operations.
National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One: “We have information confirming that Hamas is using this particular hospital as a command and control position and possibly to store weapons. This is a war crime.”
Kirby also noted that Hamas’ actions do not diminish Israel’s responsibility to protect civilians.
The White House confirmed that information about Hamas’ use of hospitals comes from multiple intelligence sources.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden called on Israel to “protect” Al-Shifa Hospital.
As Israeli forces penetrated deep into Gaza City, hundreds of sick, wounded, and displaced people were trapped inside Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical edifice in the Strip, according to hospital officials.
Medical teams revealed that more patients were dying due to lack of electricity, noting the state of “terror” inside the besieged and dilapidated hospital.
On Monday, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said that at least 32 patients from the hospital had died during the past three days.
In new statements on Tuesday, Al-Qudra denied what the Israeli army announced regarding its communication with Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City regarding premature babies.
The Israeli army spokeswoman, Ella, denied that Israeli forces were targeting or besieging hospitals, but there were “violent clashes with Hamas members around Al-Shifa Hospital.”
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