Maureen Clare Murphy Rights and Accountability 15 November 2023
Israel raided al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City at dawn on Wednesday after encircling and besieging it for days and launching heavy attacks in the area. Troops had reportedlywithdrawn from hospital buildings and redeployed to al-Shifa’s gates on Wednesday evening.
Late Wednesday night, Adnan al-Bursh, the head of the orthopedic department at al-Shifa hospital, told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli bulldozers began razing the area around the southern gate of the medical complex.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, hailed his military’s conquest of Gaza’s largest hospital, saying on Wednesday that “there is no place in Gaza that we cannot reach. There are no hideouts. There is no shelter or refuge for the Hamas murderers.”
But Israel’s own propaganda published in the aftermath of the raid shows that Netanyahu and the military’s longstanding accusation that Hamas uses al-Shifa to shield its command center is a deadly lie.
The Israeli military published a more than seven-minute “one-shot” video purportedly showing the discovery of “Hamas weapons” found at the hospital’s MRI center. The military’s footage showed rifle parts wrapped in fabric in a small closet and its spokesperson holding up a backpack, gesturing toward a small laptop computer and picking up a stack of CDs.
The original video was soon deleted and the military eventually published a version of the video that is around 20 seconds shorter than the first iteration, truncating its claim that the laptop showed an image of an Israeli soldier “rescued” by troops.
Watch as LTC (res.) Jonathan Conricus exposes the countless Hamas weapons IDF troops have uncovered in the Shifa Hospital's MRI building: pic.twitter.com/5qssP8z1XQ
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 15, 2023
hahahah right after deleting the previous unedited version of the tweet? pic.twitter.com/axQMof3cCb
— haroon. (@harooncx7) November 15, 2023
IOF reuploaded the video, without the initial “no cuts, no edit, undeniable truth” sentence.
— Arya - آریا 🇮🇷 (@AryJeay) November 15, 2023
It’s because in the new video they blurred the laptop at the end, which possibly gave-away that it was an israeli laptop — it shows an IDF officer on screen… https://t.co/BsxpKPbBXW pic.twitter.com/LNDit3qCdX
Khumus had some dates, brand new Qurans and books titled "tanks" and "rush towards jihad" and "the battlefield", pristine vests and guns. All in the MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING room. At least now we know what was in the clownish font English labeled boxes brought w/ the invaders. pic.twitter.com/vch4JswDwv
— Dalia (@TheBlahDalia) November 15, 2023
Recall that last month, Israel published an “intelligence-based” animation portraying a vast underground complex that supposedly existed beneath the hospital.
The Shifa Hospital is not only the largest hospital in Gaza but it also acts as the main headquarters for Hamas’ terrorist activity.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 27, 2023
Terrorism does not belong in a hospital and the IDF will operate to uncover any terrorist infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/Ybpln5xQb2
After weeks of talks about Hamas using Al-Shifa hospital, & after the WH put his neck out to justify attacking the hospital, our army didn't find anything there other than 1 "possible Hamas member", few weapons & unpublished "evidence of a command center"https://t.co/6H0ceVPVdy
— Asaf Ronel (@AsafRonel) November 15, 2023
4\ The "forensic evidence" he's touching all over with his bare hands:
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) November 15, 2023
A rusty rifle
5 dust-filled rifles with no cartridges (likely for hospital guards)
A dust-filled gear
1 rifle & gear in pristine condition, but with 2 GIANT bullets for a vehicle mounted machine gun (why?) pic.twitter.com/DAJT47APzd
We took a close look at this "one-shot video" the @IDF released from the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and shared in the tweet linked below.
— Mondoweiss (@Mondoweiss) November 15, 2023
Despite stating that this video contains no edits, there is a clear edit at the 6:26 mark.
We have isolated the edit here. https://t.co/49crm5OBjEpic.twitter.com/RD8mEW205U
The IDF’s precise and targeted operation against Hamas in the Shifa Hospital is still ongoing.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 15, 2023
We can now confirm that incubators, baby food and medical supplies, provided by the IDF, have successfully reached the hospital.
Our medical team and Arabic speaking soldiers are on… pic.twitter.com/9iMx41OaHV
Dans la matinée, IDF ont fait rentrer des cartons prétendant être de l'aide à Shifa. Les médecins avaient déclaré qu'ils n'avaient reçu aucune aide.
— PostOffice 🔻 (@madmediax) November 15, 2023
Ce soir, ces mêmes cartons refont surface, transformés comme par magie en "preuves" d'armes 🤡 au sein de l'hôpital Al-Shifa 🇵🇸 https://t.co/cjrmQzNVwypic.twitter.com/9Xx4CscvfR
This is all over Arab media. How Israeli occupation soldiers brought boxes into the Shifa’ hospital and then suddenly found weapons, neatly placed. https://t.co/5lVJJoIeFg
— asad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليل (@asadabukhalil) November 15, 2023
We are doing everything we can to minimize harm to civilians, assist in evacuation, and facilitate the transfer of medical supplies and food.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 14, 2023
Our war is not with the people of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YQZVcUmwx4
The IDF is in the process of coordinating the transfer of incubators from a hospital in Israel to Gaza. pic.twitter.com/C8jyv0g3sE
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 14, 2023
Dozens of premature babies at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital have been moved into an area that still has electricity as doctors try everything they can to keep the babies alive with basic medical care ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/semacyCmVZ
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 14, 2023
Adnan al-Bursh, the head of the orthopedic department at al-Shifa, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Israeli forces had surrounded the hospital and were targeting anyone who moved. He said that staff were unable to communicate between departments.
The director of the hospital told the Qatari broadcaster that the hospital’s water supply line had exploded, saying that “we do not have a drop of water” for the hundreds of injured and thousands of displaced people present at the facility.
On Tuesday, Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, said that dozens of people were buried in a mass grave on the premises of al-Shifa hospital and that many more decomposing bodies still need to be buried, but the situation was dangerous due to the presence of the Israeli military.
He said that 40 patients, including three children, had died due to a lack of medical supplies at al-Shifa.
Witnesses at al-Shifa said that during the Israeli military raid, troops had “searched its rooms and basement,” Reuters reported.
Sources at al-Shifa told Al Jazeera that Israeli soldiers ordered young men to surrender. “About 30 people were reportedly taken out into the courtyard, stripped of their clothes, blindfolded and interrogated by Israeli soldiers,” Al Jazeera reported.
“Israeli forces have also blown up a warehouse of medicine and medical devices, sources said.”
Dr. Ahmed El Mokhallalati, a surgeon at al-Shifa, described a terrifying situation for hundreds of patients, their family members, medical staff and thousands of displaced people sheltering at the hospital as heavy gunfire and explosions were heard throughout the complex.
“We don’t know what they will do to us,” El Mokhallalati said. “We don’t know whether they will kill people or terrorize them. We know all the propaganda is lies, and they know as well as we do that there is nothing at al-Shifa medical center.”
Palestinian health officials in Gaza and Hamas have vigorously denied allegations that Palestinian fighters use hospitals as command centers, with the latter urging the UN secretary-general to form an international delegation to rebuke Israel’s claims.
On Tuesday, in the hours before Israeli forces raided al-Shifa, White House spokesperson John Kirby claimed that the US has “information” that Hamas and Islamic Jihad “use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa, and tunnels underneath them to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages.”
He alleged that militants “operate a command-and-control node from al-Shifa in Gaza City. They have stored weapons there, and they’re prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against that facility.”
Kirby told reporters that the US’ information “comes from a variety of intelligence sourcing” but did not offer specific evidence.
Those claims were repeated by the Pentagon’s spokesperson on Tuesday, who even asserted that Hamas and Islamic Jihad “have weapons stored there and are prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against the facility”:
Jesus. Instead of trying to halt the relentlessly Israeli attacks on hospitals, like Al Shifa, a Pentagon spokesperson is doubling down on Hamas using hospitals as bases. This enables Israel bombing hospitals and killing patients and doctors and nurses.pic.twitter.com/mfG4R07rgL
— Stop Cop City (@JoshuaPHilll) November 14, 2023
Kirby also said that the Biden administration does “not support striking a hospital from the air, and we do not want to see a firefight in the hospital where innocent people, helpless people, sick people are simply trying to get the medical care that they deserve.”
On Wednesday, Kirby denied accusations that the Biden administration authorized the raid on al-Shifa.
Martin Griffiths, the UN humanitarian chief, said that he was “appalled by reports of military raids” at al-Shifa, adding that “the protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, said that the reports of a “military incursion into al-Shifa hospital are deeply concerning.” He added that the agency had been unable to contact health personnel at the hospital and “we’re extremely worried for their and their patients’ safety.”
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said that Israel’s repeated attacks on medical facilities, health workers and ambulances “are further destroying the Gaza Strip’s healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes.”
The group said that “no evidence put forward would justify depriving hospitals and ambulances of their protected status under international humanitarian law.”