Israel on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of “collusion” with Hamas and said it had ignored Israeli evidence showing that the Palestinian Islamist movement had used hospitals in Gaza “for terrorist purposes.”
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At a WHO Executive Board meeting in Geneva, Israeli Ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar condemned Hamas's presence “in hospitals,” which it “uses as human shields.”
In every hospital that “the IDF (Israeli army, editor's note) searched in Gaza, they found evidence that it was being used by Hamas for terrorist purposes,” she added on the social network, saying that Video of his statement to the WHO was released.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals for attacks and hiding tunnels and weapons, which the movement denies.
“Hamas has militarized the entire civilian sector of the Gaza Strip as part of a deliberate strategy,” the Israeli ambassador accused the WHO.
“These are undeniable facts that the WHO continues to ignore. This is not about incompetence. This is collusion,” she denounced.
She also claimed that “WHO knew that hostages were being held in hospitals and that terrorists were operating there.”
“Even when concrete evidence was presented of what was happening underground and above ground, weapons, headquarters, locked rooms, the WHO chose to turn a blind eye and endanger those it was supposed to protect,” she continued .
The war was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which killed more than 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.
About 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, about 100 of whom were released in late November as part of a ceasefire in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. According to the same count, 132 hostages remain in the area, 28 of whom are believed to have died.
According to the Islamist movement's health ministry, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and launched a massive military operation that killed 25,700 Palestinians, the vast majority women, children and teenagers.
To date, the WHO has not confirmed Israel's allegations that Hamas built tunnels under hospitals and used them as command centers.
Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, was asked about this point during a press conference on December 21 and asserted that the organization was not “able to verify the way each hospital was used.” .
“WHO's role is to monitor, analyze and report… We are not an investigative organization,” he said.