From inpatient wards to the hospital basements: This is how Hamas turned Gaza hospitals into terror centers
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For years, the Hamas terrorist organization has systematically placed terror infrastructure in sensitive civilian areas such as schools, kindergartens, and mosques.
This military infrastructure includes terror tunnels, hideouts for terrorists, command and control centers used to direct attacks, rocket and anti-tank missile launching posts and weapons storage facilities.
The terror infrastructure is placed in these areas in order to use the civilians of Gaza as “human shields” and “protective vests” for Hamas terrorists, in blatant violation of international law.
Hospitals are Hamas’ favorite and central sites in the Gaza Strip to use for terrorist activities. The use of hospitals for terror purposes is one of Hamas’ core operating methods. For years, Hamas formed a system for the optimal exploitation of hospital areas for its terror purposes across the Gaza Strip.
The terror infrastructure in the hospitals is meant to ensure optimal protection for Hamas terrorists during times of war, by taking advantage of the IDF's commitment to the laws of armed conflict and avoidance of carrying out significant strikes on locations of this type.
More About This Tactic
During the past few days, IDF soldiers, including special forces, have been operating around different hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip. A consistent and systematic method of operation has been documented:
- Above ground, on the floors of the hospitals themselves, alongside the normal wards that exist in every hospital, the terrorist organization stores weapons and military equipment. Among the weapons found in the hospitals were: grenades, explosive devices and RPGs. Senior Hamas terrorists stay in hospitals during times of war, even using ICU wards where they are disguised as "patients" or medical staff.
- In the basements of the hospitals, on the underground floors, next to offices and normal services as in any hospital, are exits connecting to underground operational infrastructure and Hamas command and control centers, communication infrastructure and technological equipment.
- Beneath the hospital complex is an underground network of terrorist tunnels leading from the hospital to nearby terrorist assets.
- In the area of the hospitals, the IDF has discovered vehicles loaded with weapons, including at the Shifa Hospital, as well as operational tunnels under the hospitals designed to ambush IDF soldiers. In addition, Hamas deliberately embedded terrorist infrastructure near the hospitals, with the understanding that Israel would try to avoid targeting these locations since that could be portrayed as a strike on the hospitals themselves.
Examples of Hospital Exploitation
- The Shifa Hospital: the hospital buildings were used as emergency assets for the ops rooms of the Hamas Gaza City Brigade. Additionally, during fighting, weapons and other means were taken to the underground floors of the hospital. During IDF operations, large amounts of weapons were found in the MRI building in the hospital complex. Additionally, an operational tunnel shaft was located that contains a large cache of weapons and is currently being investigated. In the cardiology ward, a weapons storage unit was found along with weapons and an interrogation room. Explosives were located in the physiotherapy ward, and explosive and communications devices were found in the Qatari building of the hospital. Additionally, evidence that hostages were kept in the hospital was released this week.
- The Rantisi Hospital: the hospital is used to transfer weapons. The Rantisi Hospital is also Hamas’ headquarters in the area, used to direct military activities including ambushes and offensive attacks, and also serves as a hideout for senior Hamas operatives. A Hamas operational tunnel shaft was found in the hospital along with many weapons and evidence that hostages were held in the hospital.
