TEL AVIV: Gazans in Israeli custody confirmed to interrogators that terrorist groups were actively operating in Gaza hospitals and even became deeply integrated into the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in videos released by the Israel Defense Forces on Monday.
So far, 500 Palestinians have been interrogated by Arabic-speaking members of Unit 504 of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate at a detention center in southern Israel, the IDF said.
In videos released by the army, three Palestinians explained to interrogators how terrorists Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups would hide in the Shifa and Rantisi hospitals. Two of the three Palestinians were identified by name in the videos.
The first Palestinian, identified only as detained inside Gaza on November 12, told interrogators that these terrorists, dressed in civilian clothes, would use hospitals as a base for attacks. They would also dress up as doctor staff while hiding in the hospital.
“The doctors were furious because there were agents of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the hospital,” he said.
When asked how many terrorists he saw, the Palestinian replied: “I saw a lot of them: about 80, 90, 100. It reached 100 people.”
And he added: “They dressed like nursing staff, but they were not nurses or doctors.”
Hamuda Riad Asad Shamalah, an internet applications engineer at the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, said terrorist groups also integrated into the Red Crescent Organization, which has a 10-story complex. He said he went there with his wife and three daughters “because I thought it was a safe and secure place.”
Shamalah said she wanted to find shelter, but then “the terrorists came and threatened us.”
He told his interrogator: “When the Hamas agents remained in the compound, they continued to operate and hide the rockets and weapons inside the mattresses. This happened daily; no one can reject them; if you dare to confront Hamas, you will be will kill.”
According to Shamalah, the large number of people at the Red Crescent headquarters was what made the complex attractive to Hamas.
“We will become human shields because the IDF will not attack a place with 40,000 people inside. If you want to fight, use a battlefield. If one of the rockets had exploded, it could have killed 50 of us,” Shamalah said.
Abdelrahman Ala Ibrahim Samour described to interrogators what he saw at the UNRWA-run Al Saweidi (Swedish) clinic in Shati refugee camp and also at Rantisi hospital.
“When I went to Rantisi hospital, I saw Hamas operatives taking control of the hospital.” There were about 100 of them, they stayed in groups of four or five and sometimes came out to carry out attacks.
At the Swedish clinic, Samour said he saw seven Hamas operatives inside. They were dressed in civilian clothes, but when asked how he knew they were Hamas, he replied: “They were armed. And I know one of them was from Hamas.”
He said they came and went and seemed to feel safe inside the clinic, preparing for attacks inside the clinic and then returning “because it was safe, no one could locate them there.”
Samour said terrorists did the same thing in Rantisi “on a larger scale.”
“There were so many it was actually terrifying. I was there for about five days and I was terrified.”
Shifa Hospital, located in the North Rimal neighborhood and with 570 beds, is the largest medical center in Gaza, serving the medical needs of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It was originally built by British authorities in 1946. In the 1980s, Israel renovated and expanded Shifa as part of an initiative to improve living conditions in Gaza.
Already in 2009, the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) reported during that year’s Gaza war that Hamas operatives were hiding in the hospital and that the basement had been converted into Hamas headquarters.
As reported by the Tazpit Press Service, in addition to being used to hide Hamas leaders and hostages, the terrorist group is known to have launched rockets, tortured alleged collaborators and accumulated half a million liters of fuel in the hospital compound.
A senior officer at Unit 505 said that since October 7, “we have received thousands of phone calls from collaborators, on a scale never before seen in the unit.”
The official added: “It is clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not satisfied with the barbaric behavior of Hamas; the average citizen understands that Hamas is bringing a disaster on the residents of Gaza from which they will find it difficult to recover.”
So far, 500 Palestinians have been interrogated by Arabic-speaking members of Unit 504 of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate at a detention center in southern Israel, the IDF said.
In videos released by the army, three Palestinians explained to interrogators how terrorists Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups would hide in the Shifa and Rantisi hospitals. Two of the three Palestinians were identified by name in the videos.
The first Palestinian, identified only as detained inside Gaza on November 12, told interrogators that these terrorists, dressed in civilian clothes, would use hospitals as a base for attacks. They would also dress up as doctor staff while hiding in the hospital.
“The doctors were furious because there were agents of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the hospital,” he said.
When asked how many terrorists he saw, the Palestinian replied: “I saw a lot of them: about 80, 90, 100. It reached 100 people.”
And he added: “They dressed like nursing staff, but they were not nurses or doctors.”
Hamuda Riad Asad Shamalah, an internet applications engineer at the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, said terrorist groups also integrated into the Red Crescent Organization, which has a 10-story complex. He said he went there with his wife and three daughters “because I thought it was a safe and secure place.”
Shamalah said she wanted to find shelter, but then “the terrorists came and threatened us.”
He told his interrogator: “When the Hamas agents remained in the compound, they continued to operate and hide the rockets and weapons inside the mattresses. This happened daily; no one can reject them; if you dare to confront Hamas, you will be will kill.”
According to Shamalah, the large number of people at the Red Crescent headquarters was what made the complex attractive to Hamas.
“We will become human shields because the IDF will not attack a place with 40,000 people inside. If you want to fight, use a battlefield. If one of the rockets had exploded, it could have killed 50 of us,” Shamalah said.
Abdelrahman Ala Ibrahim Samour described to interrogators what he saw at the UNRWA-run Al Saweidi (Swedish) clinic in Shati refugee camp and also at Rantisi hospital.
“When I went to Rantisi hospital, I saw Hamas operatives taking control of the hospital.” There were about 100 of them, they stayed in groups of four or five and sometimes came out to carry out attacks.
At the Swedish clinic, Samour said he saw seven Hamas operatives inside. They were dressed in civilian clothes, but when asked how he knew they were Hamas, he replied: “They were armed. And I know one of them was from Hamas.”
He said they came and went and seemed to feel safe inside the clinic, preparing for attacks inside the clinic and then returning “because it was safe, no one could locate them there.”
Samour said terrorists did the same thing in Rantisi “on a larger scale.”
“There were so many it was actually terrifying. I was there for about five days and I was terrified.”
Shifa Hospital, located in the North Rimal neighborhood and with 570 beds, is the largest medical center in Gaza, serving the medical needs of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It was originally built by British authorities in 1946. In the 1980s, Israel renovated and expanded Shifa as part of an initiative to improve living conditions in Gaza.
Already in 2009, the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) reported during that year’s Gaza war that Hamas operatives were hiding in the hospital and that the basement had been converted into Hamas headquarters.
As reported by the Tazpit Press Service, in addition to being used to hide Hamas leaders and hostages, the terrorist group is known to have launched rockets, tortured alleged collaborators and accumulated half a million liters of fuel in the hospital compound.
A senior officer at Unit 505 said that since October 7, “we have received thousands of phone calls from collaborators, on a scale never before seen in the unit.”
The official added: “It is clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not satisfied with the barbaric behavior of Hamas; the average citizen understands that Hamas is bringing a disaster on the residents of Gaza from which they will find it difficult to recover.”