As Israel continues its military action against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation to the horrific terror attack on Israel by Hamas, today the Israel Defense Forces said that Hamas is using hospitals in Gaza as its operational bases. IDF further said that Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, is being used as the main command centre by the Palestinian terror group. IDF also said that Hamas is stealing electricity and fuel from Gaza hospitals.
In a tweet, IDF said, “Hamas operates within and hides beneath the largest hospital in Gaza. Their priorities are clear—and the people of Gaza are not among them.”
Hamas operates within and hides beneath the largest hospital in Gaza.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 27, 2023
Their priorities are clear—and the people of Gaza are not among them. pic.twitter.com/7M4ZqjFyYs
IDF released a satellite image of the hospital, marking various Hamas facilities inside the hospital premises. It shows that there are four underground complexes of Hamas in the premises, apart from a Hamas Command and Control centre. IDF said, “The Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, should be a humanitarian facility. Instead of protecting the people of Gaza, Hamas hides a dark secret below: it’s the center for Hamas terrorism in Gaza.”
They also said that Hamas is stealing electricity meant for the Shifa hospital for their terrorism headquarters. In a tweet, the IDF added, “Hidden under the guise of a hospital, Hamas uses the 1,500 beds and approx. 4,000 staff as cover to plan terrorist attacks.”
They added that Hamas hides convicted murderers and stores weapons for terrorism in the hospital, endangering thousands of patients and staff of the hospital.
Hamas is a plague hiding in a hospital. pic.twitter.com/w1rgBN81TJ
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 27, 2023
An IDF spokesperson also briefed about hospitals being used as operational bases by Hamas, saying that they have obtained this information from intelligence sources. He said that Hamas is cynically using hospitals as shields for its underground terror complex. It is notable that Hamas has built over 300 miles of tunnels under Gaza, making a whole underground city. Hamas uses the tunnels to hide its weapons and shelter the terror leaders.
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that the tunnels are usually strategically located next to sensitive sites like hospitals, schools, mosques etc. ‘This is the philosophy of Hamas, and Shifa Hospital is one of them,’ he said. Hagari added that various departments in the Shifa Hospital are used as command-and-control centres of Hamas, from which launching of rockets, commanding Hamas forces and other terror activities are controlled.
Hagari said that Hamas has several underground complexes under Shifa — the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip — which are used by the terror group’s leaders to direct attacks against Israel. IDF also released animated videos illustrating tunnel networks connected to Gaza Hospitals.
He said Israel has intelligence that there are several tunnels leading to the underground base from outside the hospital, so that Hamas officials do not need to enter the hospital to reach it. But Hagari added that there are entrances to the tunnels from various wards of the hospital, which allow easy and quick access to the tunnels from the hospital.
Operational Update with IDF Spokesperson https://t.co/3DenBv8hnS
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 27, 2023
Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said, “Terrorists move freely in Shifa Hospital and other hospitals in Gaza. We have concrete evidence that hundreds of terrorists flooded the hospitals to hide there after the massacre of October 7th.
He added, “Hamas uses Shifa Hospital as a shield for Hamas terror infrastructure. Hamas wages wars from hospitals.” The spokesperson added that by using hospitals as operating centres, Hamas is not only endangering Israeli civilians, but is also exploiting innocent Gazan civilians as human shields.
He added that Hamas uses several hospitals for this purpose, and they operate from hospitals because they know that IDF distinguishes between terrorists and civilians. “Israel targets terrorists, Hamas targets Israeli and Gazan civilians”.
Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that they have already exposed how Hamas is stealing fuels from hospitals, and using that fuel for its terror activities. He also played call recordings of Hamas leaders talking about using hospitals as its bases and using civilians as shields. He said that IDF has more evidence, and will share more material including classified material with the members of intelligence community.
Hinting that Israel may target the hospitals, he also said that when medical facilities are used for terror purposes, they are liable to lose their protection from attack in accordance with international laws. The spokesperson added that IDF will continue its effort to minimise harm to civilians while acting as per international laws.
The IDF spokesperson further reiterated calls to the civilians of north Gaza and Gaza City to south Gaza. Israel has asked the Palestinian civilians in north Gaza to evacuate to the south of Wadi Gaza, ahead of a planned ground invasion. 2 days ago, IDF troops and tanks launched a limited ground operation inside Gaza, but a full-scale ground invasion has been delayed on the requestion of the US government, who wants to install missile defence systems in the region to protect its personnel before that. There is also request from international organisations and several nations to halt military operations to allow hamartian aides for Gaza residents.
