GAZA: Zionist forces were searching building to building at Gaza’s main hospital Thursday as Hamas said the military had “destroyed” parts of the compound where deep concern has mounted for the up to thousands of Palestinians trapped inside. Soldiers raided the Al-Shifa hospital a day ago in the hunt for a command center they say the militants built below the complex, a charge denied by Hamas and leaders of the hospital that has become a focal point of the war.

Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza, told AFP Zionist troops “destroyed the radiology service, and bombed the burns and dialysis departments”. “Thousands of women, children, sick and wounded are in danger of death,” he said. Before the Zionist entity first sent troops into the hospital complex on Wednesday, UN agencies estimated that 2,300 patients, staff and displaced civilians were sheltering at Al-Shifa without enough food, water and fuel for generators.

Kuwait’s ministry of foreign affairs on Wednesday expressed in the strongest terms Kuwait’s condemnation of Zionist occupation forces’ storming of Al-Shifa Hospital that threatened the lives of patients and medical teams. In a statement to KUNA, the ministry added this move is a “blatant violation of international laws and norms”, mainly the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding the protection of civilians. The incursion of the hospital is a new crime committed by the Zionist occupation forces that targets the lives of people, property and vital services, it added.

The Zionist occupation forces’ targeting of unarmed Palestinian people, hospitals and other civil facilities is considered a new escalation and a blatant breach of international and international humanitarian law, the statement elaborated. The ministry renewed Kuwait’s call for the international community and the Security Council to assume their responsibilities and act to halt the continued crimes committed by the Zionist occupation forces in the Gaza Strip and provide international protection to the unarmed Palestinian people.

The Zionist entity has vowed to eradicate Hamas in retaliation for the attacks of Oct 7. The Zionist military says 51 of its troops have been killed in Gaza since fighting began. But with the Hamas government media office saying the death toll from the offensive has now topped 11,500, including thousands of children, calls for a truce are mounting.

Gaza’s 36 hospitals have been caught in the war, with more than half rendered non-functioning by shortages, combat and damage, the UN has said. The Red Crescent said a “violent attack” was underway on Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital, which was hit by a deadly strike on Oct 17. Hamas blamed the blast on the Zionist entity. “(Zionist) military tanks besiege Al-Ahli Baptist hospital in Gaza, and violent attack is underway. (Red Crescent) teams are unable to move and reach those who are injured,” the group said on social media.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday set aside deep divisions over the conflict to agree a resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses” in fighting. The resolution — which passed with abstentions from the United States, Britain and Russia — called on Hamas and the Zionist entity to protect civilians, “especially children”. The Zionist entity has agreed to temporary localized pauses in fighting, but has rejected calls for a broader ceasefire.

The Zionist entity has concentrated its heavy bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza City, announcing this week the seizure of the parliament building, government offices, Hamas police headquarters and key port. The health ministry in Gaza argued Wednesday the Zionist military did not find any weapons when it raided the hospital.

The death and suffering in the densely populated coastal territory has prompted growing concern for Gaza’s civilians, who have fled south to try to escape the heaviest combat. Gaza City’s Al-Quds Hospital was evacuated during fighting in the area, forcing patients to make their way south to other facilities. “We were in pain along the road... I feel pain in the knee,” said Ahmad Abou-Sabra, wounded evacuee. “The situation was bad, and the distance. We stayed in the army (checkpoint) for more than two hours,” he told AFP at at a Palestinian Red Crescent hospital in Khan Yunis.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk pointed to what he called serious allegations of international law violations in the Zionist-Hamas war and suggested an international investigation was needed. “Where national authorities prove unwilling or unable to carry out such investigations, and where there are contested narratives on particularly significant incidents, international investigation is called for,” he said in a briefing to UN member states in Geneva.