White House doesn't want to see 'firefights' at hospitals, but refuses to condemn raid

The White House said it doesn’t want to see a “firefight” in Gaza hospitals after Israeli troops raided al-Shifa hospital.

When asked about the Israeli raid on Tuesday, the White House said patients inside hospitals “must be protected,” but did not condemn Israel for the raid.

“As we’ve said, we do not support striking a hospital from the air and we don’t want to see a firefight in a hospital where innocent people, helpless people, sick people trying to get medical care they deserve are caught in the crossfire. Hospitals and patients must be protected,” A White House spokesperson said.

Israel has said Hamas fighters are operating inside and beneath al-Shifa hospital where hostages may be located. 

On Wednesday, the US said it had intelligence that backed up the Israeli claim and said that by operating within a hospital, Hamas itself was committing a war crime.

Hamas has denied the allegations. The US and Israel haven’t provided specifics to support their claims that fighters are located at al-Shifa.