Recently, Hamas' use of hospitals in the Gaza Strip has made headlines after the IDF exposed the terror organization. During the operation at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya, about 240 terrorists were arrested, the largest arrest throughout the war, including the hospital director, Hussam Abu Safiya, who according to the IDF is suspected of being a Hamas operative. In a particularly unusual step, Israel decided to seal the hospital after the operation and put it out of use, preventing it from being used again by Hamas.
On previous occasions when the IDF raided hospitals in Gaza, it allowed the continuation of operations there afterward. For example, on November 15, 2023, the IDF raided Shifa for the first time and found weapons, a tunnel shaft, explosives, and evidence that hostages were held there in the first days of the war. After the IDF withdrew from the site, the hospital returned to being used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad members.
Immediately after the IDF withdrew for the first time, sources in the Gaza Strip say, Hamas called on a very large number of civilians to return to the hospital buildings and its courtyards, promising to distribute aid. During this time, hundreds of weapons were brought in under the assumption that IDF forces would not return to the complex.
"Specific rooms in the hospital buildings became military and security management centers," sources in the Gaza Strip said. "Daily meetings were held for Hamas and Jihad members in the hospital corridors. The Israeli forces monitored all these movements from the air, but Hamas continued military activity from the hospital."
On March 18 2024, IDF forces returned to Shifa in a surprise raid, in which more than 200 terrorists were eliminated and hundreds more were arrested. According to the IDF spokesperson, weapons were found hidden between patient beds in the maternity ward, along with mortar bombs, IEDs and sniper weapons.
Since then, Hamas has reportedly restored the hospital which has resumed operations. Hussam Yahya, a presenter for the Qatari Al Jazeera network, admitted that Hamas used Shifa, but claimed that it emboldens the population.
"It is a living nightmare for Israel's goal of emptying Gaza and the north. The hospital miraculously returned to work after its destruction. A meeting of clan leaders was held there, which resulted in a 'statement rejecting cooperation with Israel.' In short, the very presence of Shifa is a defeat for Israel," Yahya stated. In the comments, some wondered: "Why gather in a hospital? You idiots."
There are currently 23 hospitals operating in the Gaza Strip, including 13 field hospitals established by the international community, in coordination with the COGAT unit. Also, 10 additional hospitals in the Strip receive supplies from Israel, including equipment and food. Hamas's use of hospitals was not limited to medical treatment. Throughout the war, the terror organization has repeated the transgression, without regard for the population that increasingly needs medical treatments that have been reduced in response to IDF raids. In Gaza, this fact is well known, but there is no one to rise up, for now.
"There are medical personnel who are related to terrorists. These are Hamas' key people in all the hospitals. On any day they can arrive, take over an entire ward without anyone objecting to it. They arrive, close a ward, and the doctor is one of their own," a Gazan resident told Ynet. "Before the war, everything was open to them, but the takeover of the hospitals was noticeable. At any given moment, it was possible to shut down an entire hospital without regard for mothers, the sick or the wounded. This is how a terrorist organization behaves, and there is no one to stop it."
"Most government institutions have been destroyed and the hospitals are used for meetings of police, security and aid personnel. "Everything is done there, it's the safest place."
Recently, the IDF disclosed Hamas has used Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. About a year ago, Hamas police summoned a man who heads an aid-smuggling gang in the Al-Qararah area of Khan Yunis for questioning. The summons was issued on October 16, and it was clearly stated that the place of questioning was the hospital. On social media, Fatah supporters wondered: "Why does the enemy bomb hospitals or schools that house refugees? There are people in the Gaza Strip who give them an opportunity and an excuse. Summoning people to the Nasser Hospital is just a call for the enemy to bomb the patients."
These days, the use of hospitals has become more necessary for Hamas which has lost government infrastructure one after another. "From Hamas' perspective, the air force will not bomb a hospital full of displaced and sick people. The population inside must first be evacuated, and Hamas knows this very well," said sources in Gaza. "Now that most of the government institutions that Hamas used before the war have been demolished, it is also using them for meetings of police officers, security personnel, and for aid matters. Everything is conducted there. This is the safest place for them."
Israeli security sources commented. "The terrorist organizations, led by Hamas, are trying to deflect public criticism of the organization's cynical exploitation of civilian institutions and hospitals onto IDF forces," they said, and claimed: "Hamas fears public criticism and protests against it, and therefore it is spreading misleading and false narratives on social media to pressure Israel through the international community."
Unprecedented criticism from a journalist: "People are dying of cold in tents"
The IDF's activity at the Kamal Adwan Hospital began to sway Hamas supporters in the past week. In a recording published on social media, Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, who is considered one of Hamas's top aides, criticized the organization's negotiators, saying: "The public could have prevented what is happening in the northern Gaza Strip and prevented the destruction and damage to the hospitals. But Hamas, which is conducting the talks, is not interested in the public, and the organization continues to use slogans."
Sharif criticized the ongoing rounds of negotiations, and mentioned the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip. "Hamas' claims about being flexibile in the talks are not at all interesting to the public. It is impossible to continue dragging out the ceasefire talks. The public is suffering, stop haggling over the terms of the deal. We express opposition and protest against Hamas, which is making cynical use of the situation leading to the invasion of the IDF forces into the region."
In a tweet he later published, Sharif wrote: "The war must end immediately. We do not want what happened in the north of the Gaza Strip to be repeated in Gaza City. Gaza is drowning in sadness, loss, oppression, and pain in the face of the world's abandonment. I swear, we are dying from the cold and the winds when we are in tents."
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Approximately 350 patients and staff members were evacuated from the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which the IDF raided this week. During the operation, 95 patients and staff members were evacuated to the Indonesian hospital in the area, along with 5,000 liters of fuel, two generators and medical equipment to maintain the Indonesian hospital's operations.