The Israeli military said it was carrying out a raid inside Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, targeting Hamas militants it says operate under the structure, something the militant group and officials say of the hospital deny.

Thousands of Palestinians reportedly took refuge in and around the hospital, where conditions quickly deteriorated, with doctors working by candlelight and wrapping premature babies in foil to keep them alive.

Here’s what we know so far:

Lowering: Early Wednesday morning local time, the Israeli military said it was “conducting a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specific area of ​​Shifa Hospital” in Gaza.

The hospitals are protected in wartime by international humanitarian law, but Israel said in a statement that Hamas’s “continued military use of Shifa Hospital jeopardizes its protective status.”

Israel believes it has given Hamas members sufficient time to cease their alleged activities inside the building, the statement said.

On Tuesday, the United States cited intelligence suggesting that Hamas has a command node beneath the hospital, appearing to support Israel’s claims. CNN cannot independently verify US or Israeli claims.

Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner told CNN that the presence of civilians at the hospital makes ground operations “difficult.” He said Israeli forces were trying to “mitigate” the impact, citing the presence of doctors and Arabic speakers among those who carried out the raid.

What is happening on the ground: Khaled Abu Samra, a doctor at the hospital, told CNN that they were informed 30 minutes before the Israeli operation on the compound began.

Khader Al Za’anoun, a journalist inside the hospital, told CNN that Israeli tanks entered the hospital complex and there was an exchange of gunfire in the courtyard. It is unclear whether there are IDF soldiers inside the hospital buildings, Al Za’anoun said.

Ior what the Palestinian authorities said: Palestinian Health Minister Dr. Mai Al-Kaila said Wednesday that the raid represented “a new crime against humanity, medical personnel and patients.”

This could have “catastrophic consequences” for patients and medical staff, he said. Its Health Ministry is based in Ramallah and is under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and is separate from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.

Hamas blamed Israel and the United States for the Israeli attack in a statement, stating that the United States had given Israel “the green light… to carry out more massacres against civilians”, using the ” “false narrative” from Israel that Al-Shifa was being used. as a command. center.

The statement also accuses the United Nations of failing to defend the Palestinians, saying: “The silence of the United Nations and the betrayal of many countries and regimes will not deter our Palestinian people from clinging to their land and their legitimate national rights . »