IDF troops enter Al Shifa hospital as thousands of civilians and staff shelter inside

The Israeli military said its troops went into the main hospital complex in Gaza City overnight — where conditions for patients and medical staff have been growing increasingly desperate.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The Israeli military said its troops went into the main hospital complex in Gaza City overnight, where conditions for patients and medical staff had been growing increasingly desperate as fighting has gone on around the hospital. Israel says Hamas militants operate in Al-Shifa hospital and other hospitals or in tunnels underneath. All this comes as Israel continues to pursue Hamas fighters after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, with Gaza health officials saying the Israeli offensive has killed more than 11,000 people there. NPR’s Peter Kenyon is following these developments from Jerusalem and joins us now. Hi, Peter.

PETER KENYON, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.

CHANG: OK. So what is the latest on Al-Shifa hospital at this point? And what happened there exactly today?

KENYON: The Israeli military mounted an operation inside the hospital, which is a complex of buildings, saying its troops took every measure to ensure that patients, staff and civilians weren’t harmed. Al-Shifa is a pretty modern hospital where doctors have carried out complex operations. But doctors and others have described dire conditions for the hundreds of people still there. They say low power supplies have left them unable to run incubators for infants, and at least two have died. They say they’ve had to bury people in a mass grave. And for the living, food and water are running low. Rights groups say hospitals are protected under international law, even if militants are around. But Israel says Hamas using Al-Shifa as a base of operations, voids that protected status. The military says they discovered weapons and what they call terrorist infrastructure at Al-Shifa.

CHANG: And what exactly is Israel saying right now about why they felt they had to…