Director of Gaza’s main medical complex describes the situation inside the facility is “catastrophic” as the Israeli army’s raid continues for a second day.
On Wednesday, Israeli troops had raided the coastal enclave’s largest medical facility, starting at 2am. Israel has long claimed that Hamas was using the hospital as a command centre. The Israeli army has said the raid has helped it find evidence to back up its assertion.
What was found in the hospital?
Video footage from an unnamed structure within the medical facility was made public by the Israeli military.
The military alleges in the video that three duffel bags carrying an assault rifle, grenades, Hamas uniforms, and flak jackets were discovered hidden in an MRI lab.
The army also displayed assault guns without ammo clips and a laptop that it claimed to have located.
“These weapons have absolutely no business being inside a hospital,” Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus declared, adding that he thought the information was “just the top of the iceberg.”
It should be noted that in the days leading up to the raid, Israel insisted that Hamas was operating tunnels underground al-Shifa Hospital. It also claimed that the hospital was a command centre and military post for Hamas.
Israel’s claims were also backed by United States President Joe Biden, who accused Hamas of committing war crimes by having its military headquarters under the hospital.
Yet, more than 24 hours after Israel’s raid started, the Israeli army has not shown evidence of either Hamas-run tunnels or a military command centre under the hospital.
Meanwhile, Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that what Israel had shown in videos from under al-Shifa Hospital so far could easily have been planted by the army itself.
Hamas has denied and dismissed the latest statements by the Israeli military.
