Israel shows evidence that Hamas stored weapons in children's hospital
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has revealed evidence that the Hamas terrorist group used the basement of a hospital in Gaza City to hide weapons and possibly hold hostages kidnapped on 7 October.
Source: The Times of Israel
Details: IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that Hamas was hiding in hospitals: "Today, we will expose this to the world."
Hagari showed a piece of video evidence that Hamas weapons had been stored under the Rantisi Children's Hospital in Gaza.
He also showed rooms believed to be used to hold hostages. In one living-room-like room, window curtains were covering a tiled wall and a calendar of guard shifts starting on 7 October, the day Hamas sent thousands of terrorists to Israel.
A woman's robe and rope were placed next to one of the chair's legs in an adjacent room, which Hagari claimed was proof that restraints had been applied.
The chair was under a piece of equipment supplied by the World Health Organization, with a baby bottle on top and nappies beneath.
Hagari accused the international organisations that fund the hospitals of promoting terror.
There were also what looked to be temporary kitchens, bathrooms, and ventilation pipes, as well as a motorcycle that was allegedly used by a Palestinian to transport hostages into Gaza.
Hagari says that Israel is continuing its investigations as to whether hostages had actually been held there, and forensic teams were sent there on Monday.
Among the weapons found in the hospital basement were suicide bomb vests, grenades, AK-47 assault rifles, explosive devices, RPGs and other weapons, the IDF says.
Hagari described the area as a Hamas command-and-control centre.
Israel has long accused Hamas of using hospitals to hide military infrastructure. The terrorist group uses patients as human shields, forcing Israel to scale back its offensive or risk greater civilian casualties.
International law gives hospitals special protection in times of war. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross indicates that hospitals could lose those protections if combatants use them to hide fighters or store weapons.
As of Friday, more than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, had been killed since the war began, as reported by Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants.
Background:
- On 31 October, the IDF reported that they had started fighting with Hamas in the underground tunnels of the Gaza Strip.
- Later, the IDF stated that they were already operating inside Gaza City and surrounding it from several sides.
- On 5 November, the IDF reported they had completely encircled the city of Gaza and divided the coastal enclave in two.
- Mark Regev, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Senior Advisor for Foreign Affairs and International Communications, said that Israel is not planning a long-term occupation of the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas, but it will be responsible for security in the region.
- Yoav Gallant, Defence Minister of Israel, said on 13 November that Hamas had "lost control" of the Gaza Strip and was retreating south.
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