Fighting Around Gaza's Largest Hospital Continues

Facts

• Since the beginning of Israel's ground operations in Gaza City over two weeks ago, Israeli forces recently managed to hold positions around the al-Shifa Hospital complex near the center of the city. Israel has stated that it seeks to capture the complex, as it claims that it is the administrative center of Hamas's de facto government in the Gaza Strip and a base of operations; Hamas has rejected the claims that it has bunkers underneath the hospital.¹
• Gaza's Health Ministry said that at least 32 patients at al-Shifa Hospital have died over the past three days, including three premature babies, due to a lack of fuel to run the hospital's generators. Israel claimed that it had left 300 liters of fuel near the hospital, but Hamas refused it.²
• Hospital staff have disputed Israel's claims, saying that they want to receive fuel via the Red Cross or another aid agency and al-Shifa requires 8K to 10K liters a day to function. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the al-Quds Hospital was forced to shut down on Sunday after running out of fuel, with preparations being made to evacuate its 6K patients with Israelireportedly present in the vicinity.²
• Meanwhile, Israel said that it would like to install former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a humanitarian coordinator for the Gaza Strip to improve the humanitarian situation and reduce building international pressure. Blair's office said that he had not been offered a role, but his political allies said he was considering taking on a humanitarian role.³
• Axios reported that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed concern to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Saturday about Israel's role in escalating tensions on its northern border with Lebanon as the situation continues to deteriorate. The Pentagon said Austin 'emphasized the need to contain the conflict to Gaza and avoid regional escalation.'⁴
• As of Monday afternoon, per the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Hamas-administered Gaza, over 11K people in the strip have reportedly been killed, over half of which were women and children. Israel revised its official estimated death toll of Hamas's Oct. 7 surprise attack, lowering the number to reportedly about 1.2K people, down from the more than the 1.4K initial figure; Israeli authorities said that around 70% of those killed were civilians.⁵

Sources: ¹The Guardian, ²Sky News, ³FT, ⁴Axios and ⁵The New York Times.

Narratives

• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by The Times of Israel. Israel has presented evidence that terrorists from Hamas have placed their headquarters underneath the al-Shifa Hospital, specifically with the aim of using the civilians at the facility as human shields. Israel is doing everything it can to minimize harm to the civilian population. After Hamas's heinous attack on Israel, the country has the right to ensure its security.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by Middle East Eye. Even if Israel's claims that Hamas is using al-Shifa as a base of operations are true, it still has an obligation under international humanitarian law to prevent unnecessary harm to civilians and should not attack the hospital under any circumstances. It seems that Israel is committing abhorrent human rights violations in Gaza, namely collective punishment, and the international community must do more to stop this war on Gaza.

Predictions