US intelligence-secure militant groups used Gaza's largest hospital in campaign against Israel: AP source
WASHINGTON — The US is “confident” that Palestinian militant groups have used Gaza's largest hospital to hold “at least a few” hostages seized during their bloody Oct. 7, 2023 attack and to house command infrastructure. American official found.
The assessment provides the strongest US support for Israeli claims over the Shifa hospital complex, which was raided by Israeli forces in November in an operation condemned by global humanitarian organizations and some members of President Joe Biden's party. Yet the information released does not fully support Israel's main claims that the hospital served as a central hub for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad activities. The US official shared the assessment on condition of anonymity.
“The US intelligence community is confident in its judgment on this issue and has independently confirmed information regarding the use of the hospital complex by HAMAS and PIJ for various purposes related to their campaign against Israel,” the assessment said. groups “used the al-Shifa hospital complex and its underlying locations to house command infrastructure, exercise some command and control activities, store some weapons and hold at least a few hostages.”
The US believes that Hamas members were evacuated days before Israel invaded the complex on November 15 and that they destroyed sensitive documents and electronics before Israeli forces entered the complex.
US officials had previously pointed to secret intelligence, obtained independently from the Israelis, to provide support for the Israeli incursion.
“I can confirm for you that we have information that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are using some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Shifa, and tunnels beneath them to conceal and support their military operations and to hold hostages,” he said. the National Security Council. Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters a day before Israel entered the hospital.
Gaza's hospitals have played a central role in the dueling narrative surrounding the war that has killed 22,100 people, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry – although no distinction is made between civilians and fighters. Hospitals enjoy a special protected status under international law of war. But they can lose that status if they are used for military purposes.
Before the hospital raid, the Israeli military unveiled a detailed 3D model of Gaza's Shifa Hospital, showing a series of underground installations that they said were part of an extensive Hamas command and control center beneath Israel's largest healthcare facility the area. The Israeli military has not yet unveiled any infrastructure nearly as vast and developed as the alleged center.