A White House spokesman announced on Wednesday that the United States “did not approve of the Israeli army’s operations around Al-Shifa Hospital” in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that it follows the same behavior regarding other military decisions taken by Israel.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “We have always been very clear with our Israeli partners about the importance of minimizing civilian casualties. We have also been very clear with them that we must be especially careful when we talk about hospitals.”

The Israeli army withdrew from the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip after long hours of inspection and verification of the identities of those in the place, according to what Al-Arabiya / Al-Hadath correspondent reported.

But he confirmed that the army was still in the vicinity of the hospital and was continuing its siege, noting that the army had blown up the basement of the surgical building in the place.

The Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath correspondent continued by saying that “the Israeli army blew up important facilities in the hospital and medical equipment,” noting that the army left the hospital without finding any people.

Weapons, infrastructure... and exile from Hamas

Before his withdrawal, a senior Israeli army official said in statements to reporters earlier today, that “his forces found weapons and infrastructure belonging to Hamas during an ongoing raid on one specific area inside the hospital.”

On the other hand, Hamas denied “Israeli allegations of the presence of weapons in Al-Shifa,” considering them “lies and cheap propaganda through which Israel is trying to justify the destruction of the health sector in Gaza.”

Israel accuses Hamas of stationing itself in locations beneath hospitals, which the movement denies, stressing that they are merely justifications for committing “war crimes.”

It is noteworthy that, hours after storming the Al-Shifa compound and searching its rooms and basement, the Israeli forces did not find any indicators indicating the presence of prisoners underneath, or Hamas command centers or tunnels, according to what was reported earlier by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

United Nations estimates indicated that there were at least 2,300 people inside the complex, which had been surrounded by tanks for days, including patients, medical personnel, and displaced persons.