The Latest | Israeli military raids Gaza's main hospital, claiming Hamas is using it as a base

Israeli forces have launched another raid on the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, accusing Hamas militants of using it as a base

Israeli forces have launched another raid on the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, accusing Hamas militants of using it as a base.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said the army had launched a “high-precision operation” in parts of the medical complex. He said senior Hamas militants had regrouped there and were directing attacks from the compound, without providing evidence. The military said militants had opened fire from within the hospital.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the army attacked the hospital early Monday, directing gun and missile fire at a building used for specialized surgeries. It says a fire broke out at the hospital’s gate.

Israel raided the medical center in November after claiming that Hamas was concealing a major command and control center within and beneath the compound. It revealed a tunnel running to an underground bunker beneath the hospital, and some weapons discovered inside, but not the elaborate facilities it had described before the raid.

The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 31,645 Palestinians have been killed in the war. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.

Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza that triggered the war, and they took another 250 people hostage. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 captives, as well as the remains of 30 others.

Currently:

— Netanyahu snaps back against growing US criticism after being accused of losing his way on Gaza

— Israel strikes several sites in Syria, wounding a soldier, Syrian military says

— The European Union announces an $8 billion aid package for Egypt as concerns mount over migration

— How should Israel bring to justice the perpetrators behind the worst attack in its history?

— AP reporters aboard a US military plane watch small batches of aid airdropped on a destroyed Gaza

— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

GERMAN FM BAERBOCK SAYS SANCTIONS PLANNED AGAINST HAMAS AND WEST BANK SETTLERS

BRUSSELS — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters Monday ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels that they were planning to impose sanctions on both Hamas and West Bank settlers.

“We will finally initiate sanctions against Hamas ... in light of this terrible rape, the sexual violence against women in Israel,” she said, referring to acts allegedly committed by Hamas during its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

"And at the same time we are making it clear here in Brussels: The suffering in Gaza must finally come to an end," the minister said.

“This war, but this conflict as a whole, can only come to an end if we reach a two-state solution,” Baerbock added. “That is why it is so important for us to make it clear that the construction of settlements, and in particular the violence of radical settlers, is not in line with international law. We will also initiate a sanctions regime for this.”

EU'S TOP DIPLOMAT ACCUSES ISRAEL OF USING STARVATION AS A WEAPON OF WAR

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomat on Monday accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war by preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza.

“We are in a state of famine, effecting thousands of people,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at an international aid conference in Brussels. He said that this famine “is entirely man-made.”

“This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Yes, starvation is used as a weapon of war,” Borrell said.

He said that Israel is preventing hundreds of aid trucks from entering Gaza, and he urged the Israeli authorities to stop hindering the aid effort.

“It’s absolutely imperative to make crossing points work effectively, and open additional crossing points,” Borrell said. “It’s just a matter of political will. Israel has to do it. It is not a question of logistics. It is not because the United Nations has not provided enough support. The support is there, waiting. Trucks are stopped. People are dying, while the land crossings are artificially closed.”

“We cannot stand by and watch Palestinians starve,” he said.

ISRAELI MILITARY RAIDS SHIFA HOSPITAL IN GAZA

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces have launched another raid on the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, accusing Hamas militants of using it as a base.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said the army had launched a “high-precision operation” in parts of the medical complex. He said senior Hamas militants had regrouped there and were directing attacks from the compound, without providing evidence. The military said militants had opened fire from within the hospital.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says the army attacked the hospital early Monday, directing gun and missile fire at a building used for specialized surgeries. It says a fire broke out at the hospital’s gate.

The ministry says around 30,000 people are sheltering at the hospital, including patients, medical staff and people who have fled their homes seeking safety.

Hagari said the patients and medical staff could remain in the compound and that a safe passage was available for civilians to leave.

Israel raided the medical center in November after claiming that Hamas was concealing a major command and control center within and beneath the compound. It revealed a tunnel running to an underground bunker beneath the hospital, and some weapons discovered inside, but not the elaborate facilities it had described before the raid.

Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to shield its fighters.

The army has raided other hospitals across the territory. Most of Gaza’s medical facilities have been forced to shut down for lack of fuel and medical supplies, even as scores of people are killed and wounded each day in Israeli strikes.

NETANYAHU PUSHES BACK AGAINST GROWING US CRITICISM

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed Sunday against growing criticism from top ally the United States against his leadership amid the devastating war with Hamas, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”

In recent days, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country and a strong Israel supporter, called on Israel to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu had “lost his way.” President Joe Biden expressed support for Schumer’s “good speech,” and earlier accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza.

Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and denounced Schumer’s comments as inappropriate.

“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”

When asked by CNN whether he would commit to a new election after the war ends, Netanyahu said: “I think that’s something for the Israeli public to decide.”

ISRAEL HITS SEVERAL SITES IN SYRIA, SYRIAN MILITARY SAYS

BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in southern Syria early Sunday wounding a soldier, Syrian state media reported.

State news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said air defenses shot down some of the missiles, which came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights at around 12:42 a.m. local time. The strikes led to “material losses” and the wounding of a soldier, the statement said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Israeli strikes also hit two military sites in the Qalamoun mountains northeast of Damascus, an area where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has operations. One of the targets was a weapons shipment, the observatory said.

The observatory said the strikes represented the 24th time Israel has struck inside Syria since the beginning of 2024. They have killed 43 fighters with various groups — including Hezbollah and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard — and nine civilians.