The United States on Wednesday accused Hamas, based on its own intelligence, of using hospitals in Gaza for military operations, particularly that of Al-Chifa, around which fighting is raging.
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Hamas and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad are using “a command and control center at Al-Chifa Hospital” in Gaza, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday, referring to the same meaning as Israel’s authorities.
“It’s a war crime,” he said during an interview with reporters aboard the plane carrying President Joe Biden to California, where he is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday.
The spokesman said the two Palestinian Islamist groups were using “some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa, and the tunnels below to conceal and support their military operations and to hold hostages.”
In particular, he assured that these sites were used to store weapons, pointing out that this information was obtained from the United States itself.
“We do not support airstrikes on a hospital and we do not want a shooting in a hospital where innocent, destitute and sick people are simply trying to get treatment,” he added.
A spokesman for the US State Department told him that Washington was demanding a “safe evacuation of patients” and was in favor of a third party taking over the evacuation measures.
Several thousand civilians remained trapped on Tuesday at Al-Chifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, in a situation described by the United Nations as “horrific.”