Published November 14, 2023
JERUSALEM (AP) — Gaza’s Shifa Hospital has become the focus of a dayslong stalemate in Israel’s war against the Hamas militant group.
Shifa is Gaza’s largest and best-equipped hospital. Israel, without providing visual evidence, claims the facility also is used by Hamas for military purposes. It says Hamas has built a vast underground command complex center below the hospital, connected by tunnels, something Gaza health officials and Hamas deny.
Since Israel declared war against Hamas in response to a deadly cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, its forces have moved in on Shifa. While Israel says it is willing to allow staff and patients to evacuate, Palestinians say Israeli forces have fired at evacuees and that it is too dangerous to move the most vulnerable patients. Meanwhile, doctors say the facility has run out of fuel and that patients are beginning to die.
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SOURCE: www.apnews.com
RELATED: The Hamas compound Israeli troops expect to find under Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital
Current and former Israeli officials describe subterranean labyrinth of tunnels and rooms constructed by terror group underneath Israeli-built medical center
Published November 13, 2023
As Israel Defense Forces troops neared Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, with fierce battles in the surrounding streets, a number of current and former Israeli defense and intelligence officials described, in a report published Sunday, the Hamas command center they believe the soldiers will find underneath the medical center.
Israel has long said the terror group’s main base of operations is under Shifa Hospital, and last month the IDF provided visuals and intercepted audio as evidence of the terror organization’s activities.
The eight officials, speaking anonymously, toldThe New York Times that while Hamas originally appropriated basement areas in the hospital — which was built by Israel when it still ruled Gaza — the terror group has since then dug several further floors and added tunnels to make the site a hub in its vast underground labyrinth.
A former Shin Bet official and two other Israeli officials told the newspaper that there were several floors dug underneath Shifa that held meeting areas, living spaces and storage facilities.
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SOURCE: www.timesofIsrael.com
RELATED: IDF releases new intel detailing Hamas use of Gaza hospitals for terror purposes
Video footage shows gunmen emerging from tunnel at entrance to Qatar-funded Sheikh Hamad Hospital, others firing from building at Israeli forces
Published November 5, 2023
The Israel Defense Forces revealed new intelligence Sunday it said provided further evidence that the Hamas terror group is using medical facilities in the Gaza Strip for terror purposes.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari briefed international media outlets with video footage of Hamas gunmen emerging from a tunnel under Sheikh Hamad Hospital, as well firing at Israelis forces from within the building itself.
War erupted between Israel and Hamas last month when the Palestinian terror group launched a massive attack that killed over 1,400 people. Israel has repeatedly said Hamas is using civilians as human shields, including by locating operations bases under hospitals. Captured Hamas terrorists have confirmed the claims, explaining that Hamas knows Israel will not bomb a medical center.
“Today, I will be sharing evidence proving that Hamas systematically exploits hospitals as part of its war machine,” Hagari said. “We decided to declassify and share more sensitive intelligence with you, because the world must take immediate action.”
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SOURCE: www.timesofIsrael.com
