On 11th November (Saturday), the Israel Defense Forces announced that it had killed the Hamas commander, Ahmed Siam, who “held approximately 1,000 Gazan residents hostages at Rantisi Hospital”. Siam held people and patients as hostages in the Gaza hospital and prevented their safe evacuation southward, the IDF added.
The IDF revealed that Siam was a commander in Hamas’ Naser Radwan Company and had been using civilians in Gaza as human shields for terrorist purposes. Citing the example of Siam, the IDF statement added, “Ahmed Siam demonstrates once again that Hamas uses the civilians of the Gaza Strip as human shields for terror purposes.”
IDF aircraft just struck Ahmed Siam, responsible for holding approximately 1,000 Gazan residents and patients hostage at the Rantisi Hospital, and preventing their evacuation southward.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 11, 2023
Siam was a commander in Hamas' Naser Radwan Company, and is another example of Hamas using… pic.twitter.com/RGJAISFjxL
In a statement, the IDF pointed out that they had received intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate. Following the credible intel, troops of Israel’s Givati Brigade directed a fighter jet to strike Ahmed Siam, the commander of Hamas’s Nasser-Radwan company.
He was neutralised two days after, the IDF had emphasised that Siam was preventing around 1,000 Palestinians from evacuating Rantisi Hospital, which is located in northern Gaza. According to the IDF, Siam was hiding at the al-Buraq school in Gaza City, along with other Hamas operatives under his command when the Israeli troops neutralised him.
IDF troops opened & secured an evacuation route from both Rantisi and Nasser hospitals, as well as an additional route for Gazans moving southward.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 11, 2023
While our troops secured the route, armed terrorists approached and fired RPGs. In response, IDF troops struck the terrorists.… pic.twitter.com/Qxg5QBJAWd
No strike, no siege at Shifa Hospital: IDF
Meanwhile, fighting between Israel and Hamas continued in northern Gaza, including near the Strip’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa. Notably, on 10th November (Friday local time), a missile struck the premises of the notorious Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City which, according to the IDF, has been housing critical terror infrastructure of Hamas underneath. Immediately after the missile blast, Hamas-run media blamed Israeli forces for the missile strike.
However, the IDF revealed that the hospital building was hit by a Palestinian outfit’s missile that misfired. According to the IDF, intense fighting had been going on in the vicinity of the Shifa Hospital and when the Hamas terrorists tried to hit Israeli defence personnel, one of their missiles misfired hitting their own ‘Military HQ’ disguised underneath the Shifa Hospital.
A day after the false claim of the missile strike on the hospital, Palestinians started peddling the claim that the hospital was under siege or that those inside were trapped. However, Israel categorically denied these claims stressing that it has been asked by staff at Shifa Hospital to help enable the transfer of babies in the pediatric department to a safer hospital, and it would do so on Sunday.
However, it also asserted that its troops were continuing to make advancements against Hamas on the ground at various fighting locations including in the vicinity of the Shifa Hospital.
Updating on the Israel-Hamas war, the IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press briefing on Saturday evening that ground forces, with air and naval support, were “deepening” operations in Gaza City’s al-Shati neighbourhood.
He added that Hamas was losing control of northern Gaza, as civilians evacuated the area “against the instructions” of the terror group. According to him, another 200,000 residents had left the Strip’s north in the past three days alone.
Regarding Shifa Hospital, Hagari dismissed “false reports” that the IDF had hit Shifa Hospital and was surrounding and striking Gaza hospitals. He emphasised that the IDF does not strike hospitals. Rather, he noted, “We are fighting terrorists who are choosing to fight from close to Shifa Hospital.”
"There is no shooting at the hospital and there is no siege.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 11, 2023
The East Side of the hospital remains open."
Head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) to Gaza in @cogatonline COL Moshe Tetro explains the situation at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/pIyQ0wU225
The IDF Spokesman Hagari added, “There has been a lot of misinformation from Gaza today. So I want to clarify the facts. There is no siege, I repeat no siege, on Shifa Hospital. The east side of the hospital is open for the safe passage of Gazans who wish to leave the hospital.”
Fact: We are working with Gaza's hospital staff to provide safe passage southward for Gazans from Shifa Hospital.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 11, 2023
Watch IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari speak on the IDF's efforts to mitigate harm to the people of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/0BUKDibmTM
The IDF official noted that the army would continue to allow patients and staff at Gaza’s hospitals, and all noncombatants in northern Gaza, to evacuate to the south.
Hagari further said, “We’re speaking directly and regularly with the hospital staff. The staff of Shifa Hospital has requested that tomorrow we will help the babies in the pediatric department to get to a safer hospital. We will provide the assistance needed.”
