IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari issued a statement to the media this evening (Saturday) in which he referred to the fighting situation in the Gaza Strip against Hamas.
"Hamas has lost its grip on the north of the Gaza Strip, the residents of the north have left against its instructions. To prevent this, it is lying about what is happening in the hospitals," Hagari said. "Yesterday they rushed to accuse us of an attack on Shifa - we checked our systems and again it became clear that it was a failed launch by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. Hamas shoots and kills its own people. It commits a war crime in its use of hospitals."
"In the last few hours, false news has been spread that we are surrounding and attacking Shifa Hospital - this is a lie. We are fighting with Hamas terrorists who choose to fight right next to the hospital, hitting them in a targeted manner and eliminating them. There is a safe and permanent passage to the south of the hospital. We eliminated the terrorist who held thousands of Gazans hostage, and the hospital was evacuated. We spoke with the hospital managers and made it clear: the IDF is not attacking the hospital. We will allow everyone to move south."
On the tensions in the north: "We attacked a wide range of Hezbollah military targets, in response to the firing on the northern settlements in the last day. Hezbollah, directed by Iran, is trying to challenge Israel in order to divert attention from Gaza. We are focused on Gaza, but we will continue to respond to Hezbollah and hit any link that tries to harm Israel. In the last hour, we also attacked in Syria in response to the firing of rockets aimed at the Golan Heights. Nasrallah and other terrorist organizations in the north continue to endanger the people of Lebanon and Syria for the benefit of the interests of Iran and Hamas-ISIS. We are also following the Houthi terrorism and Iran's support for them.
"Today, six weeks since the beginning of the war, it is important to emphasize again: we are constantly engaged in a variety of moves to return the abductees," he clarified in his conclusion. "These processes are complex, and they take time. We have to wait for them to materialize and we will update the families. We are working to return them, we will not miss any opportunity to return the abductees."
