By Anadolu staff
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army intends to storm Al-Shifa Hospital, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said early Wednesday.
“The Israeli army contacted the complex’s administration and informed it that it would storm it in the coming minutes,” ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra told the Al Jazeera Media Network.
"The occupation contacted us by phone and asked us not to approach the windows or doors of Al-Shifa Hospital," he said.
Eyewitnesses from inside the hospital said that “violent clashes and the sound of intense gunfire could be heard in the vicinity of the hospital, very close to the gates.”
Al-Qudra said a state of panic and fear prevails among patients, displaced people and medical staff inside the hospital.
He said in an earlier statement that around 1,500 medical staff and 7,000 displaced people are in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex.