Netanyahu admits failure to minimize civilian casualties
Shafaq News / Israeli soldiers found a tunnel shaft used by Hamas militants at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, the army said, while the U.N. voiced concern no aid would be delivered to Palestinians on Friday via the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
The army released a video it said showed a tunnel entrance in an outdoor area of Al Shifa, Gaza's biggest hospital.
The video, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a deep hole in the ground, littered with and surrounded by concrete and wood rubble and sand. It appeared the area had been excavated; a bulldozer appeared in the background.
The army said its troops also found a vehicle in the hospital containing a large number of weapons.
Hamas said in a statement late on Thursday that claims by the Pentagon and U.S. State Department that the group uses Al Shifa for military purposes "is a repetition of a blatantly false narrative, demonstrated by the weak and ridiculous performances of the occupation army spokesman."
The United States is confident in an assessment from its own intelligence agencies on Hamas activities in Al Shifa hospital and will neither share nor elaborate on it, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Thursday.
The two telecoms companies in Gaza said all services in the territory were down as energy supplies had run out. Israel refuses fuel imports, saying Hamas could use them for military purposes.
With communications out and in the absence of fuel, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it was impossible to coordinate humanitarian aid truck convoys.
"If the fuel does not come in, people will start to die because of the lack of fuel. Exactly as from when, I don’t know. But it will be sooner rather than later," said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
(Reuters)
