Images relating to hostages captured by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas during its attack on Israel have been found on computers seized from al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Thursday.
The images were found on equipment “belonging to Hamas,” an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) official said in a statement, adding that the operation was underway today for the second day in a row in the largest hospital ward in the Gaza Strip . , which is home to hundreds of patients, employees and civilians who are hiding from the war in the enclave.
The main hospital in the Gaza Strip is presented by Israel as a strategic and military center for Hamas, a claim rejected by the Islamist movement, which has been in power in the area since 2007.
The IDF is conducting “precise and specific operational activities within the hospital complex,” which are “managed in phases depending on the current situation,” the Israeli military commander said.
“The army is advancing from building to building, searching every floor, leaving hundreds of patients and medical staff in the complex,” said the same source, who stated that the operation “is being carried out in a discreet, methodical and exhaustive manner” , based on on-the-spot interrogations.
The Israeli military command emphasized that “a well-hidden terrorist infrastructure exists” in the health complex.
According to the Israeli official, “weapons, information – including on the events of October 7 -, technological equipment, military equipment, command and control centers and communications equipment, all belonging to Hamas, have been found so far.”
Watch LTC (res.) Jonathan Conricus expose the numerous Hamas weapons that IDF forces discovered in the MRI building of Shifa Hospital: pic.twitter.com/5qssP8z1XQ
– Israeli Defense Forces (@IDF) November 15, 2023
Figures provided to AFP show that there are around 2,300 people in the hospital ward.
The Hamas Health Ministry, in turn, stated that the Israeli army had attacked several services in the hospital.
“They destroyed the radiology service and bombed the burn and dialysis services,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidreh told AFP.
“They are in the complex interviewing doctors, wounded and displaced people,” he noted, describing the situation: “We have no electricity, drinking water or food (…) Thousands of women, children, sick and wounded are in danger of death.”
The Israeli excavators, the spokesman charged, partially destroyed the southern entrance to the complex, near the maternity ward, which had already been damaged by tank fire in recent days.
After the first day of intervention on Wednesday, the Israeli army claimed to have found “ammunition, weapons and military equipment” at al-Shifa hospital, releasing images of weapons they claim belong to Hamas.
In response, the Hamas government’s Health Ministry simply said, quoted by AFP, that the Israeli army “did not find any weapons or military equipment” at al-Shifa hospital and that it “found the presence of weapons in its hospital” not allowed”. hospital institutions.
AFP could not independently verify these claims.
On October 7, fighters from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel – carried out an unprecedented attack on Israelis. since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which has left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, around 5,000 injured and more than 200 hostages.
In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “eradicate” Hamas, which began with cuts to food, water, electricity and fuel supplies in the Gaza Strip and daily bombing, followed by a ground offensive around Gaza City.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 41st day today and continues to threaten to spread across the Middle East, has so far resulted in 11,500 deaths in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, 29,800 injured and 3,250 missing under the rubble. and more than 1.6 million people have been displaced, according to the latest report from local authorities.
Source: DN
