Tel Aviv/Gaza, 28 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Fierce fighting in the area of the Shifa hospital in Gaza is continuing on Thursday, with the Israeli army reporting it has eliminated around "200 terrorists" so far, while human rights activists spoke of a deliberate attack on civilians.

"Approxiamately 200 terrorists have been eliminated in the area of the hospital since the beginning of the activity," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on its Telegram channel.

Over the past 24 hours, "terrorists fired at IDF troops from within and outside of the ER building at the Shifa Hospital," the army said.

The IDF described the operation as precise, preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment. Civilians, patients and medical teams were taken to alternative medical facilities set up by the army. The IDF's claims could not be independently verified at this time.

The organization Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, on the other hand, accused Israel's army of deliberately killing civilians, including children, during the operation in Shifa. Palestinian media reported on Thursday that a journalist from the Hamas-affiliated radio station Saut Al-Quds had been shot dead by soldiers in the hospital. This information could not be independently verified either.

Israel accuses the Palestinian Islamist Hamas of systematically misusing medical facilities for military purposes. Hamas rejects this.

On Thursday, the Hamas-controlled health authority announced that 62 Palestinians had been killed and 91 others injured in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. This brings the number of Palestinians killed in the coastal strip since the start of the war six months ago to 32,552, and the number of people injured since then to almost 75,000. These figures could not initially be independently verified.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7. Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive.

In view of the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel is being increasingly criticized internationally.

Photo: MIA Archive