Al-Shifa Hospital Military Operation Returns Scant ‘Evidence’

The operation against Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City started on November 15, and was supposed to be the “the largest moment of the war, when Hamas was the most broken and possibly Hamas’s top leaders would be caught or killed,” according to the Jerusalem Post. It has been hallmarked with more civilian deaths, however, this time critically ill patients and premature babies. 

The IDF invited the CNN, BBC and Guardian to view the scant evidence that surfaced of Hamas control centers and bunkers as asserted previously, though what surfaced was unsubstantiated. 

According to a November 20 CNN report, “The IDF is now under pressure to prove Israel’s long-standing assertion with its promise of ‘concrete evidence.’ Its ability to continue its operation in Gaza, and the credibility of Israel, could be at stake as the number killed in Gaza surpasses 12,000.”

The reason for the occupation of Al-Shifa, which was to uproot underground tunnels and expose a Hamas command room, only now shows an entrance to a tunnel outside the facility, according to CNN. CNN added that the information about the tunnel can’t be independently verified outside of claims by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). 

With regards to the IDF video footage of hostages being taken into the hospital, CNN says it’s also unable to independently confirm the veracity.

The BBC also reports it can’t confirm whether Hamas has been operating at the hospital or not. It notes, “The military’s controversial operation inside the hospital did not net a major arsenal of weapons.”

“Hamas knew Israel was coming, and therefore, if they were operating beneath the hospital, they would have had weeks to clear out through Gaza’s extensive tunnel network,” the BBC adds.

CNN analysis of footage published online by the IDF prior to visits from international media outlets “suggests weaponry at Al-Shifa may have been rearranged.”

The IDF told CNN, “Suggestions that the IDF is manipulating the media are incorrect.”

The Guardian stated: “The [IDF] video presentation of al-Shifa did show the main facilities lay deep underground, and it is quite possible the Israeli soldiers have not reached them yet, so there could be much more to come. But the attempt to present what has been found so far as significant is bound to fuel scepticism about whatever is presented later.”

“We need to demolish the underground facility that we found,” an IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told CNN. “I think the leadership of Hamas is in great pressure because we found this facility, and we are now going to demolish it.”

It’s unclear why the IDF would want to destroy the bunker, the main evidence justifying their invasion of the hospital. The Guardian notes, “There are questions over how much of its graphic presentation of the network under al-Shifa was based on what Israel knew already; its own architect had built an extensive basement area there the last time Israel directly occupied Gaza, up to 2005.”

It remains unclear if such a network is, or has been, used by Hamas. Perhaps evidence during the following weeks will show whether or not this is the fact, unless it is destroyed. Judging by the quality of evidence found so far, any further evidence might only leave more questions. 

Meanwhile, patients and staff at Al-Shifa were made to evacuate by the IDF. Omar Zaqout, the hospital’s supervisor, told Al Jazeera that forced evacuations began on November 18, adding that the scenes outside the facility were “appalling.”

“We were told to leave through al-Wehda road. Dozens of dead bodies are scattered on the road,” he said. “Many homeless people who cannot walk are left out in the open.”

The World Health Organization was able to visit the scene on November 18 and “described as a ‘death zone,’ and the situation as ‘desperate.’… The team saw a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and was told more than 80 people were buried there.”

Zaqout also told Al Jazeera that “not a single bullet was fired from inside the hospital during the occupation forces’ storming of the complex.” Meaning that there was no one in the hospital to return fire from the IDF.

IP Correspondent