Today the IDF accused Hamas of hiding its main base of operations underneath a hospital in Gaza. The hospsital in question is Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. This is not the same as al-Ahli Hospital, the scene of an explosion last week.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari briefed international reporters Friday and said Hamas has placed its main base of terror operations beneath the largest hospital in Gaza.
Hagari said Shifa Hospital, which has over 1,500 beds and 4,000 staff, houses an “underground terror complex” used by the Islamist group to plan attacks on Israel. He referred to Israeli intelligence reports that Hamas uses an expansive network of tunnels connecting hospitals in Gaza from which to plan and launch rocket attacks targeting residential areas in Israel. He said that terrorists do not need to enter the hospital from outside to reach the tunnels, but there is an entrance to the underground complex inside the hospital wards.
“We have concrete evidence that hundreds of terrorists flooded into the hospital to hide there after the massacres of October 7,” Hagari said…
“Hamas uses Shifa hospital as a shield for Hamas terror infrastructure,” Hagari said.
The IDF presented a video illustrating specific areas beneath the hospital compound where they said Hamas was based.
Hamas headquarters is located inside and under Al Shifa hospital in Gaza.
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That video is without audio but during the presentation today the IDF spokesman did narrate the video saying they had evidence the hospital had direct connections to the tunnels beneath Gaza City. They also provided an illustration of what was beneath the hospital but stressed that they would not reveal “the true material” on which the illustration was based (see below).
During the presentation they also played two call intercepts. In the first, two individuals discuss the alleged lack of fuel in Gaza. The two people speaking aren’t identified but an unnamed “energy officials” says there is lots of fuel in the underground tunnels for Hamas and that they will be fine no matter what happens to civilians.
In the second intercept a man only identified as speaker A tells a woman that the main Hamas infrastructure is beneath Shifa hospital (see below). Another IDF spokesman was asked if the IDF knew the identities of the people speaking in that intercept. He said that they did but would not reveal it.
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, spokesperson for the IDF, claims Hamas soldiers are hiding inside the Al Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, saying this shows “how merciless” the the group is.
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The IDF promised it had more information which it would share with the public and with foreign intelligence agencies. Hamas has already denied these allegations:
Hamas official Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the movement’s political bureau, said on Telegram: “There is no basis in truth to what was reported by the enemy army spokesman,” accusing Israel of spreading lies as “a prelude to committing a new massacre against our people”.
Israel can’t bomb the hospital because there are thousands of people sheltering there.
More than 50,000 displaced Palestinians have taken refuge at the al-Shifa Hospital, squeezing in corridors, waiting rooms and outside in the courtyard.
The hospital, which is barely functioning on solar-powered generators, is in a state of collapse like the rest of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip.
But for many families, they preferred to stay in the hospital, believing it to be a safer option than heading down south to Khan Younis. Still, the living conditions are far from ideal, due to lack of clean water and adequate shelter.
If Israel wants to destroy the base below the hospital, they will have to enter on the ground to do it. Here’s the full presentation by the IDF including the call intercepts.
Update: Another video about the Hamas tunnels.
(Warning: Disturbing images)
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Why put it under a hospital? According to the media and college leftist, Israel intentionally bombs civilian targets.