Israeli soldiers “will kill” Hamas fighters “shooting through the hospitals” in Gaza, an Israeli military spokesman warned, following strikes on several medical facilities yesterday.

“If we see Hamas terrorists shooting through hospitals, we will do what we have to do (…) kill them,” Richard Hecht said, but admitted that these operations are “sensitive in nature.”

Israel has accused the militant group of using hospitals as cover for their operational centers and civilians as “shields”.

“It would be easier if Hamas left the hospitals and showed us clearly,” he added, accusing the Palestinian organization of “operating inside the hospitals.”

Hecht argued that the Israeli military “takes all possible precautions to ensure that it does not attack people who are being given serum or treated for fractures,” he added.

According to the Hamas government, 13 people were killed and dozens wounded yesterday in a strike by the Israeli army on Al Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza City, where at least 50,000 people have taken refuge – among them 2,500 patients, seriously injured, operated and newborns.

The hospital’s director said Israeli tanks targeted the maternity clinic, while Israel said it targeted a “military command center” of the group near the hospital.

According to the Wall Street Journal, authorities at Al Shifa Hospital began evacuating the medical center following orders from the IDF, which has surrounded the compound where Hamas is believed to have built a major underground command center.

More than 100,000 Palestinians fled south in 48 hours

More than 100,000 residents of the Gaza Strip have fled south in the past two days as Israeli forces operate “deep into Gaza City”, army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Haggari said tonight.

At the televised news briefing, Haggari said efforts are underway to free the hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but it will take time for those efforts to bear fruit.

“We are working continuously and with dynamism in various efforts for the return of the hostages. These efforts are complex, they are not definitive. They need time, it will take time,” the spokesman said.