Gaza war
US Intelligence: Shifa Hospital was used by Hamas
Israeli soldiers show media an underground tunnel found beneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in November. photo
© Victor R. Caivano/AP/dpa
Despite massive international criticism, the Israeli military entered the Shifa Hospital in mid-November. The suspicion: The facility is not just for patient care.
Terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad have, according to the US intelligence agencies used the Shifa Hospital in the city of Gaza as a command center for the fight against Israeli troops. Weapons were also stored in and under the building complex and some hostages were temporarily held, several US media reported on Tuesday (local time), citing recently released intelligence information.
The US government had previously supported the Israeli claim that Hamas used the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip as a command center and weapons depot. The information now released is “the most current US assessment,” said the New York Times.
A few days before the Israeli military operation in the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, the Islamists left the complex and destroyed documents and electronic devices, it said. Hostages held in or under the building have been relocated.
The Israeli military entered Shifa Hospital in mid-November despite massive international criticism. There, the army said it found a tunnel complex at the clinic. Pictures and videos presented by the army showed a narrow tunnel and several rooms. According to the military, weapons were also found in the hospital. Hamas has denied that it is using medical facilities for military purposes.