"Al-Sifa Hospital, Hamas Operations Headquarters" Claim
Controversy Likely to Grow as Attacks on Civilian Facilities Increase
The Israeli military announced that it has discovered the entrance to a Hamas underground tunnel connected to Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip. This is expected to lend credibility to the Israeli military's claim that the hospital was used as Hamas's operational headquarters. Until now, the international community and human rights organizations have criticized Israel for violating international law by attacking civilian medical facilities. Hamas and Al-Shifa Hospital have denied Israel's claims, calling them fabricated.
According to the Times of Israel on the 16th (local time), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that they found the entrance to a Hamas underground tunnel within the premises of Al-Shifa Hospital on that day. They also discovered a pickup truck loaded with Hamas weapons, and claimed that a laptop found in the hospital contained information about hostages taken by Hamas following their surprise operation against Israel on the 7th of last month.
The Israeli military asserted that Al-Shifa Hospital was not merely a civilian medical facility but was used as Hamas's operational command center, and that patients and medical staff inside the hospital were used as human shields. Until now, the international community and human rights organizations had opposed the Israeli military's entry into Al-Shifa Hospital, stating that no conclusive evidence had emerged proving that the hospital was used as Hamas's operational headquarters.
The Israeli military suspects that Hamas held hostages captured during last month's surprise attack at Al-Shifa Hospital, and said that they conducted a sudden deployment of troops to the hospital at dawn the previous day to carry out a search operation, during which they even found the bodies of some hostages. They also confirmed spaces used as operational headquarters by Hamas and hidden weapons, releasing related photos and videos.
However, Hamas and Al-Shifa Hospital have rebutted the Israeli military's claims, stating that they are fabricated and that Al-Shifa Hospital was not used as Hamas's operational headquarters. As the Israeli military expands its operations targeting civilian buildings in the operational area, it is expected that various controversies, both large and small, will continue in the future.
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