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Published November 20, 2023, 7:58 PM ET
Hamas operatives captured by Israel admitted under interrogation that the bloodthirsty terror group ruthlessly uses hospitals and innocent civilians as human shields when it launches attacks against Israeli forces.
The Israel Defense Forces released videos showing several Hamas terrorists captured by Israel describing how the group hides weapons under mattresses and poses as doctors and nurses to avoid capture.
A senior IDF official said on Telegram that the terrorists were being interrogated in Israel after they were captured in a ground operation on November 12
One of the prisoners, who identifies himself as Abdelrahaman Alaa Ibrahim Samur, tells an off-camera interrogator that “about a hundred” Hamas operatives “took control” of Rantisi Hospital in Gaza for about five days to “[carry] attacks.”
“They were organized with multiple tents, with each group of activists on their own [in groups of] 4-5 of them were sitting together, all around the hospital,” said the captured terrorist.
In the Israeli Defense Forces’ interrogation videos, the men talk about Hamas using hospitals as operating bases. IDF The video showed several from Israel. IDF captured Hamas terrorists
He also admitted that the terrorists “operated from the hospital… because it was a safe place and no one could find them there.”
“No one would suspect them,” Samur added. “It was better than operating from home.”
They used the hospital “as a base of operations,” he said, before launching missions outside.
Another captured Hamas fighter said he was at Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital complex in Gaza, where he estimated about 50,000 people were seeking refuge.
“The doctors were angry because there were Hamas operatives and operatives from other terrorist organizations in the hospital,” he told the interrogator.
Ambulances transport premature babies evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.HAITHAM IMAD/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The unnamed Hamas fighter said there were around 100 terrorists in the hospital, including members of Islamic Jihad, Hamas’ second-largest militant group.
“She [Hamas operatives] They were dressed as health care workers, but they were not nurses or doctors,” he said. “Hamas activists disguised themselves as medical personnel to hide in the hospital wards, even in the intensive care unit!”
A third man, who says his name is Hamuda Riad Asad Shamalah, tells the interviewer that he and his family were holed up in the Red Crescent building in Gaza for “about three weeks.”
He estimated that there were around 40,000 people in the complex, about half of whom were in the main building, where he was staying with his wife and three daughters.
He claimed that Hamas militants continued to operate during their stay at the complex.
“She [Hamas operatives] They were dressed as healthcare workers, but they were not nurses or doctors,” said an unnamed Hamas fighter. “Hamas activists disguised themselves as medical personnel to blend in in the hospital wards, even in the intensive care unit!”IDF
Hamas members hid rockets and weapons by wrapping them in mattresses “on a daily basis,” Shamalah said, adding that the terrorists used fear tactics to carry out their activities with impunity.
“No one can tell them no. “Who could do that?” he said. “If you dared to confront a Hamas member, he could kill you.”
Hamas chose the Red Crescent as its base of operations because “the sheer number of people in that place served as protection for them,” the man revealed
“We became their human shields. It is obvious that the IDF would not attack a place with 40,000 people,” he added.
“The doctors were angry because there were Hamas operatives and operatives from other terrorist organizations in the hospital,” he told the interrogator. AFP via Getty Images
In one segment, the captured fighter appears to disagree with Hamas members’ cruel tactics.
“If you want to fight, use the battlefield. It’s not okay for them to use a sanctuary with so many people on it,” he said. “For example, if one of their missiles exploded, it could kill 50 of us or more.”
He described the Red Crescent building and Al-Shifa Hospital as “the only places where they could hide.”
While The Post’s video interviews and captions could not be independently verified, the surprising admissions bolster Israel’s long-standing claim that the terrorist organization uses hospitals to hide its activities and conduct operations.
Israel has faced increasing criticism in recent weeks, including from allies, as Israeli forces waged military campaigns in and around al-Shifa and other hospitals in the Gaza Strip that they claimed were being carried out repeatedly to eliminate Hamas operatives, which they used as cover.
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