The Israeli army asserts that these images “prove the presence of a Hamas headquarters” in the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. For its part, Hamas assures in a press release that, on the contrary, the two hostages visible in the images were treated in this facility, which is now under siege by the IDF as part of its ground operation.
A reason for hope for families still waiting? At a press conference on Sunday evening, the Israeli army released images allegedly from surveillance cameras at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza hostages be brought into the premises of the facility.
“I will share with you concrete evidence about these hostages, one is from Nepal, the other from Thailand, they were kidnapped during the Hamas massacre on October 7th. Hamas hid and murdered our hostages there. “Shifa Hospital,” Daniel Hagatri, an IDF spokesman explained at a press conference.
These images, which have not been officially authenticated, appear to date to October 7, 2023, the day the Palestinian Islamist movement carried out its attack on Israel, the most violent in the country’s history since 1948, which killed about 1,200 people became. According to this, the Israeli authorities reported mostly civilians and took around 240 hostages.
Hamas denies
In one of the videos, a seriously injured man is seen being carried down a corridor on a stretcher surrounded by several men, at least four of whom are armed. At least three other men are wearing blue medical coats.
In another video, a person appears to be struggling as they are pushed into what appears to be an entrance to the establishment.
“Here you see Hamas taking a hostage inside,” Daniel Hagari added. “We have not found these two hostages yet,” he added. “We don’t know where they are.” “Now the truth is clear. Hamas wages war from hospitals.”
Ezzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas political official quoted in a statement from the movement, responded to Daniel Hagari in the evening.
“We have long said that the resistance brought several occupier prisoners to hospitals for treatment and surgery, particularly because some were injured in Israeli airstrikes,” he said.
“We showed pictures of all this and the army spokesman acts as if he discovered something incredible,” he continued.
When questioned by BFMTV, Colonel Olivier Rapinowicz, French spokesman for the Israeli army, believes that these videos, on the contrary, prove the presence of the Islamist group’s bases in the health institute.
“They enter the hospital when they return home because this hospital has served and has served for years as a central base, a headquarters for Hamas forces and its forces in the Gaza Strip. Why is the IDF in the hospital in Shifa, you have a share.” of the answer. Shifa is part of the Hamas war apparatus,” he emphasizes.
tunnel
In retaliation for the October 7 attack, Israel vowed to “annihilate” the movement and its army relentlessly shelled the small Palestinian territory, where it launched a ground operation on October 27. But the extent of the destruction has drawn criticism from parts of the international community.
According to the Hamas government, a total of 13,000 people have been killed in Israeli bombings since October 7, including more than 5,500 children.
Shortly before these images were broadcast, the Israeli army said it had discovered a 55-meter-long tunnel under Al-Chifa Hospital that it said was being used “for terrorism.”
This tunnel is ten meters deep, the army said, while, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are still dozens of patients in this hospital complex, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
“A steep staircase leads to the entrance to the tunnel,” which is equipped with several means of defense, including an armored door, the army said in a press release. “This type of gate is used by terrorists from the Hamas organization to prevent Israeli forces from entering command centers.”
The tunnel was discovered in an area of the hospital under a hangar containing weapons including “grenade launchers, explosives and Kalashnikov rifles,” she said, adding that soldiers continued to advance underground. Israeli forces have been besieging the hospital since Wednesday, where Hamas denies any military activity.
In addition, Daniel Hagari confirmed that, according to the Israeli army, the autopsy report of soldier Noa Marciano, a hostage found dead near Al-Khifa, proves that she was “murdered on the spot by a Hamas terrorist.” Hamas claims she was killed in an Israeli bombing.
“During the army bombings, her captor was killed and Noa was injured, but not critically, the autopsy report says,” concluded Daniel Hagari.