Israel Was Right About Al-Shifa Hospital

Written by Jack Elbaum

What’s happening: Evidence of extensive Hamas activity in Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital recently came to light while the Israel Defense Forces continued operations there. Several “fact-checkers” and other mainstream media sources had repeatedly denied the hospital was a Hamas base.

• Reminder:Article 19 of the Geneva Convention ensures the “protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy.”

The details: Israel says it found a Hamas tunnel under the hospital with a “blast door” at the end, which suggests it may open up to an even larger tunnel. The IDF also found more large stashes of weapons in the hospital. What’s worse, remains of numerous hostages were found near the hospital.

The video: Israel uncovered two surveillance videos from October 7 which show hostages brought inside Al-Shifa Hospital alongside Hamas terrorists holding rifles. In one instance, the hostage — who did not appear to be injured — was being dragged through the front entrance of the hospital by terrorists.

• Implications: This is hard evidence that Hamas uses a civilian hospital for military purposes. Importantly, indications from the hospital staff suggest Hamas had a regular presence there and October 7 was not a one-time occurrence.

• Scandal: International organizations that have access to Al-Shifa never mentioned that Hamas operates there even though it has been an open secret since at least 2014. It also appears that certain doctors at Al-Shifa lied when they explicitly said there were no Hamas terrorists in the hospital.

Humanitarian crisis: 31 premature babies were transferred out of Al-Shifa Hospital due to lack of power for incubators. It is extremely difficult for injured patients to get the care they need almost anywhere in Gaza right now, and there are gruesome reports of procedures taking place without anesthesia.