Photo by Majdi Fathi/TPS on 7 April, 2021

IDF: Hamas Headquarters Underneath Gaza’s Largest Hospital

Public • By TPS • 28 October, 2023

Jerusalem, 28 October, 2023 (TPS) -- The Israel Defense Forces provided proof on Friday that the Hamas terrorist organization uses Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as a command and control center.

“Hamas wages war from hospitals,” said IDF Spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari on Friday, adding that this “not only endangers the lives of Israelis but exploits innocent Gazan civilians as human shields.”

Speaking to reporters, Hagari noted that Hamas uses hospitals and mosques to hide their underground terror network.

Hamas headquarters are located in Al-Shifa, a hospital with 1,500 beds and 4,000 staff members, said Hagari. Hagari added that Hamas coordinates its terror operations from inside other hospitals, mosques, UNRWA centers, and more.

Further, its underground terror tunnels are connected to the hospitals and mosques.

Hagari said Hamas operates parts of its command and control center inside different Al-Shifa hospital departments, coordinating rocket attacks against Israel, along with other terror activities.

“Hamas also has an entrance to its terror tunnels from inside hospital wards,” Hagari told reporters. “From different places inside the hospital, you can enter underground tunnels.

“Right now, terrorists move freely in Al-Shifa hospital,” Hagari said. “Hundreds [of terrorists] fled to the hospital to hide after the massacre on October 7.”

Additionally, Hagari said the IDF has confirmed that Hamas is storing highly flammable fuel inside Gaza hospitals, where they are protected from Israeli attacks.

Hagari also shared with reporters two recorded conversations among Gazans discussing the fuel stored under hospitals and said, “This information has been shared with members of the intelligence community. They have been given all of this and more.”

“Hamas is stealing from Gazan civilians to fuel its attacks,” Hagari said.

At the beginning of the war, the IDF and UNWRA confirmed that Hamas had stolen fuel from the UN organization.

“When medical facilities are used for terror purposes, they are liable to lose their protection from attack,” Hagari noted.

In a statement released on Friday, the IDF said, “With 4,000 staff members and 1,500 beds, the Shifa Hospital is the largest hospital in Gaza and is located in the heart of Gaza City. Unfortunately, underneath it lies a labyrinth of tunnels and underground compounds used by Hamas’ leaders to direct terrorist activities and rocket fire and to manufacture and store a variety of weapons and ammunition. Additionally, the hospital’s generators are used to launch rockets.

“The entrance to Hamas’ underground headquarters consists of a number of tunnel shafts adjacent to the hospital. Additional entrances are located in various departments of the hospital, including the admissions department, putting all patients at risk.”

A source in Gaza told the Tazpit Press Service that during periods of heightened security tensions, portions of Shifa Hospital are routinely sealed off to the public. This restricts access for Gaza residents to various buildings adjacent to the hospital. Additionally, senior Hamas officials are known to receive medical treatment there, especially during military operations.

In recent days, the Israeli Defense Forces have bombed and demolished several buildings close to Shifa Hospital. A Palestinian source in Gaza told the TPS that those buildings are well-known Hamas sites widely believed to be connected to Shifa by underground tunnels.

Shifa was originally built by British authorities in 1946. In the 1980s, Israel renovated and expanded the hospital as part of an initiative to improve Gaza living conditions.