The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declassified intelligence on Sunday showing how terrorist group Hamas was hiding behind civilians and using hospitals for its terrorist offensive against the Israeli military operating in Gaza.
While the Israeli military was undertaking every possible measure to minimize harm to civilians in Gaza, Hamas was using hospitals as bases for terrorist operations and as launch pads for firing rockets at Israeli ground troops, IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari disclosed during a social media briefing on Sunday afternoon.
Hamas was not merely using hospitals for its terrorist activities, but had built them strategically to cover up its command posts and tunnel infrasture, the imagery released by the IDF showed.
At the online briefing, Israeli military spokesman “screened a video showing a shaft leading underground Sheikh Hamad Hospital, which he said is connected to Hamas tunnel networks. He showed photo evidence of several rocket launchpads placed in close proximity to hospitals as to prevent IDF strikes,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported.
The Times of Israel reported:
In a briefing to international media outlets, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari reveals new intelligence information and evidence showing Hamas’s use of medical facilities in the Gaza Strip for terror purposes.Hagari presents a video showing an underground entrance from Sheikh Hamad Hospital, which he says connects to Hamas tunnel networks.Another video shows Hamas gunmen opening fire at Israeli forces from the hospital.“If it weren’t enough that we exposed a tunnel under the hospital, the terrorists also shot at our soldiers from within the hospital,” Hagari says.He says the IDF has intelligence of a tunnel network under the so-called Indonesian Hospital, as well as aerial imagery showing rocket launchers a few dozen meters from the complex.“Hamas systematically built the Indonesian Hospital to disguise its underground terror infrastructure,” Hagari says.He also presents recordings of calls between Hamas officials describing their use of fuel reserves that belong to the Indonesian Hospital. (…)“Our war is with Hamas, not the civilians in Gaza. We will not accept Hamas’s cynical use of hospitals, to hide their terror infrastructure. Hamas’s exploitation of hospitals must come to an end,” Hagari says.
The IDF spokesman showed how IDF was sending text messages and air dropping leaflets with instructions to civilians on how to leave the combat zones.
During the briefing IDF “offered video evidence of Hamas violently deterring Gazans from moving to a safer area, as the IDF urges them through some six millions of leaflets dropped from the air,” the i24NEWS reported.
The IDF spokesman also revealed details of an Hamas attack on Israeli troops trying to secure the evacuation route on Saturday. The terrorist group had set up roadblocks to stop the movement of civilians, he disclosed.
Describing IDF’s efforts to keep Gaza civilians out of the harm’s way, the Jerusalem Post noted:
Israeli forces prioritized evacuation offers above other operational missions in the Gaza Strip, IDF spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari reassured on Sunday in a statement presenting Israeli evidence showing Hamas’s use of hospitals in Gaza as bases of operation.Over a million and a half pamphlets were dropped into Gaza by Israeli fighter jets since the beginning of the operation, Hagari said, showing footage of an aircraft dropping the pamphlets and another video of a journalist showing and reading the IDF pamphlets.Close to six million phone calls were carried out by the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Office, he added. “Hamas is weak without human shields,” Hagari said.
Watch the full IDF briefing here:
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