Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday (Nov 5) said that the Israeli military was carrying out “intense bombings” around several hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip, immediately after internet and phone lines were cut.
“For more than an hour, intense bombings have been taking place around hospitals,” said Salama Marouf, the head of the Hamas government’s media office.
Israel cut telecommunications in the besieged Palestinian enclave on Sunday night for the third time since the war broke out.
“We regret to announce the complete shutdown of communications and internet services in Gaza after the Israeli side disconnected the servers,” Paltel said in a statement.
This came after Israel accused Hamas of using hospitals for their military operations.
On Sunday, the Israeli army said that it has exposed Hamas’ hidden network of tunnels, rocket launchers and command centres adjoining hospitals in the northern part of war-torn Gaza.
“Hamas systematically exploits hospitals as part of its war machine,” Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters.
During a press briefing in Tel Aviv, Hagari presented videos, photographs and audio recordings which he claimed illustrated the Palestinian militant group’s strategy of using hospitals as shelter and deterring civilians from leaving war zones.
He further said that during the war, around 800 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza which fell short and landed inside the enclave, claiming the lives of many Palestinians.
As per news agency Reuters reports, the Hamas group, which is backed by Iran, manufactures some of its rockets locally and also receives some from abroad.
Hagari also levelled some accusations against two other hospitals in Gaza, the Qatari-funded Sheikh Hamad Hospital and a hospital built by groups from Indonesia.
Hamas rebuffs allegations
Late last month, the Israeli army had levelled similar allegations against Hamas.
The Palestinian militant group fired back on the accusations saying that the claims had no basis.
“There’s no basis in truth in what the spokesman of the enemy army stated,” said Izzat al-Rishq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau. He accused Israel of making the allegations to “pave the way for a new massacre to be committed against our people”.
(With inputs from agencies)
Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
