Since Wednesday, November 15, Israel has been carrying out a major operation inside the Al Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza. At the time of the raid, there were thousands of people there, between wounded patients, medical personnel and displaced people by the war who sought refuge in the environments of the almost 5 hectare complex.
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Before entering the hospital, Israel had accused Hamas of having a command center underground in Al Shifa. He also maintained that there are underground tunnels in the place for the movement of terrorists and for storing weapons.
The United States publicly backed Israel’s claims that Hamas has infrastructure beneath Al Shifa hospital, something Palestinian Islamists have denied.
CNN has stated that senior US officials have refused on multiple occasions to explain how they can support Israel’s claims, since the United States does not have troops on the ground in Gaza.
Hamas also said the fighting in and around Al Shifa was proof of Israel’s unjustified disregard. for the lives of civilians in Gaza.
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In October, in a media call, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that Hamas was directing rocket attacks and commanding operations from bunkers beneath the hospital building. He added that these spaces were linked to the network of tunnels that Islamists dug under Gaza City.
Israel also released an illustrated video “based on intelligence” of what its sources say the alleged Hamas headquarters under Al Shifa looks like. According to CNN, The video shows a 3D diagram of the hospital, which moves to show an animated network of supposed tunnels and operating rooms.
This is what is known so far about those found at Al Shifa hospital:
“Technological assets, military and combat material”
At the end of the first day of the operation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed in a statement to have found “technological assets, along with military and combat material” in a hospital environment intended for performing magnetic resonance imaging, as well as as “an operational command center and technological assets” elsewhere within the same complex.
The IDF also said the soldiers confronted and killed several Hamas members as they began the raid.
“In another department of the hospital, soldiers found an operational command center” and more “technological assets” that they also linked to Hamas, “which indicates that he uses the medical center for terrorist purposes,” Israel accused.
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These materials “were transferred for complete review, while Israeli forces continue to operate in the hospital complex, extract intelligence information” and in turn seek to “prevent harm to medical personnel and civilians taking refuge there,” according to the IDF. .
Fortified tunnel
On November 19Israel claimed to have found a “fortified tunnel” under Al Shifa hospital.
“Based on intelligence information from the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet (internal security agency), soldiers exposed a 55-meter-long and 10-meter-deep terrorist tunnel beneath the Al Shifa hospital complex,” he said. a military statement that was reviewed by the EFE agency.
The Israeli army published videos showing a deep staircase leading to the entrance of the tunnel shaft, which “consists of defense means such as “an explosion-proof door and a shooting hole,” the military noted.
“The terrorist organization Hamas uses this type of door to prevent Israeli forces from entering command centers and underground assets belonging to Hamas,” the Israeli military said.
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Israel said the tunnel was discovered under a shed, “next to a vehicle containing numerous weapons.”s, including anti-tank launchers, explosives and Kalashnikov rifles.”
“The results clearly demonstrate that Hamas uses numerous buildings in the hospital complex as cover for infrastructure and terrorist activities. “This is further evidence of the cynical way in which Hamas uses the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields for its murderous terrorist activities,” an Israeli military spokesman stressed.
Hostages in the hospital
On Sunday, Israel published images that it claims come from the security cameras of the Al Shifa hospital, showing how Several hostages were reportedly taken to the complex after being kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 in Israeli territory.
“These discoveries prove that the Hamas terrorist organization used the Al Shifa hospital complex as a terrorist infrastructure on the day of the massacre,” the Israeli military and intelligence services said in a statement.
The AFP agency described that in one of the videos several individuals, four of them armed, are seen carrying a man on a stretcher.
In another video, someone is seen trying to resist while being forcibly dragged into a building that looks like a hospital.
“Here you can see Hamas carrying a hostage inside (…) they are taking him to the hospital,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told the press, explaining that the hostages, men, were from Nepal and Thailand.
“We have not yet located these two hostages,” he added, “we do not know where they are.”
The images shown by Israel are dated October 7, 2023, the day Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel by surprise, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 240 along with other armed groups. , according to Israeli authorities.
Hamas responded in a statement. “We have been saying it for a long time, that the resistance took several of the occupier’s prisoners to hospitals to receive care and undergo surgery, especially since some were injured in Israeli aerial bombardments.”
“We have shown images of all this and the army spokesman acts as if he had discovered something incredible,” he added.
As of this Tuesday, there were about 200 patients and 50 health workers left at Al Shifa hospital, out of the thousands of people there last week.
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