Israel’s military forces entered al-Shifa Hospital on Tuesday, which has been the site of a long standoff.
According to The Associated Press and The Washington Post, Israel’s army surrounded the hospital as part of its military ground offensive against Hamas militants and is carrying out a “precise and targeted” operation.
Authorities in Israel claim that Hamas is concealing military operations within the hospital, the Post reported.
A statement from Israel Defense Forces accused Hamas of “continued military use of the Shifa hospital,” CNN reported. The IDF said the actions “jeopardized the hospital’s protected status under international law.”
“The IDF is conducting a ground operation in Gaza to defeat Hamas and rescue our hostages,” the statement continued, according to The New York Times.
The medical center is housing hundreds of patients and health workers and thousands of refugees, according to the newspaper.
On Tuesday, White House officials said that Hamas was storing weapons at the hospital, CNN reported.
“Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa, and tunnels underneath them, to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden to San Francisco.
The president is in California to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon, KNTV reported.
Kirby added that intelligence confirmed that the Hamas group used tunnels underneath Shifaa and other hospitals to hide their operations and to hold hostages, according to Reuters.
Medical workers at the hospital have denied that Hamas had a command center under the facility, the Post reported.
Earlier, Israeli troops dug out positions about a block from the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital, The Washington Post reported.
On Monday, Biden said that Gaza’s hospitals “must be protected” as Israeli troops surrounded Shifa, according to the newspaper.
Hospital officials said conditions are critical for patients as fuel for generators has run out, the Times reported.
Israeli defense officials said they agreed to allow fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip, the first time they have been allowed since hostilities began on Oct. 7, according to the AP.