Hamas refuses fuel for Shifa hospital, U.S. wants to avoid fighting in hospitals


Nov 12, 2023.  Posted by  Balkan Periscope - Hellas

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel had offered fuel to Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital, which suspended operations after running out of fuel, but that the militants had refused to receive it.

 

Netanyahu was asked by NBC News whether Israeli allegations that Hamas had a command post under Gaza’s main hospital justified jeopardizing the lives of sick people and babies.

On the contrary, we actually offered last night to give them enough fuel to operate the hospital, the incubators, and so on, because we have no battle with patients or civilians at all,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s military said it was ready to evacuate babies from Al Shifa on Sunday, but Palestinian officials said people inside were still trapped, with three newborns dead and dozens at risk from a power outage. Fighting is raging nearby.

Netanyahu was asked if Israel has a plan to get fuel into Gaza to power hospitals. “We just offered Shifa Hospital the fuel, they refused it,” Netanyahu said.

“Hamas, is hiding in the hospitals and placing itself there, doesn’t want the fuel for the hospital. They want to get fuel that they’ll take from the hospitals to their tunnels, to their war machine.”

Hamas said on Sunday said it is suspending hostage negotiations because of Israel’s handling of the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, a Palestinian official briefed on the hostage talks told Reuters. The terrorist organization denies Israeli allegations that it has command posts under Shifa and other Gaza hospitals.

U.S. aims to avoid fighting in hospitals

The United States wants to avoid armed fighting inside hospitals in the Gaza Strip, which endangers the lives of civilians, and has conveyed its view to Israeli forces, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS News on Sunday.

“The United States does not want to see fights in hospitals where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire, and we’ve had active consultations with the Israeli Defense Forces on this,” Sullivan told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program.

Israel’s army said it was ready to evacuate babies from Gaza’s largest hospital, but Palestinian officials said people were still trapped inside it, with two newborns dead and dozens at risk from a power outage amid intense fighting nearby.

Al-Shifa and other hospitals in northern Gaza, the focus of Israel’s month-old war to wipe out Hamas and free hostages held by the militants, are barely able to care for patients. More people are wounded daily by the fierce Israeli bombardment.

Sullivan said that open-source information indicated that “Hamas is using hospitals as it uses many other civilian facilities, for command and control, for weapons storage, to house its fighters. And this is a violation of the laws of war.”

He also said the United States continues to move U.S. citizens out of Gaza.

“The gate has been open and closed. The lists have included Americans some days and not others. But the bottom line is, today the gate is open. We are moving American citizens and their families members out,” he said.

tvpworld

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