DO THÁI VẪN CHƯA CHỨNG MINH ĐƯỢC BÊN DƯỚI BỊNH VIỆN LÀ HỆ THỐNG ĐƯỜNG HẦM CỦA HAMAS ./-Mt68

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Analysis: What’s Israel’s next target after Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital?

Israel has yet to offer evidence that Hamas is using a network of tunnels below the hospital as a command centre.

An Israeli officer points at what he describes as a bag containing a rifle and other munitions discovered behind an MRI machine at the al-Shifa Hospital complex on November 15 [Israeli Army/Handout via Reuters]

By Zoran Kusovac

Published On 17 Nov 202317 Nov 2023

Israeli troops again entered the al-Shifa Hospital en masse on Thursday, for the second time in as many days.

Their searches so far appear to have failed to uncover the alleged Hamas underground command centre that the Israeli side adamantly insists lies below the medical facilities.

KEEP READING

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Escape from al-Shifa: How a Gaza doctor dodged Israeli patrols, snipers

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Are Israel and Hamas nearing a ‘hostage’ deal? What to know

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What has Israel ‘found’ in Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital?

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Hamas, the hospital staff and several international organisations that had access to the hospital all assert that there are no military installations or soldiers at al-Shifa. They have said it only houses exhausted doctors and overworked nurses tending to the swelling numbers of patients in ever more difficult conditions, exacerbated by hundreds of terrified Palestinians who escaped from the destruction of their homes to the relative safety of the compound.

One of Israel’s main claims, obviously intended to justify the attacks against Gaza hospital compounds, was that Hamas had nullified the protected status of medical facilities, using them for military purposes, thus giving Israel the right to attack and enter hospitals, all while blaming the Palestinian armed group.

The Israeli army went to great lengths to “prove” their allegations but the results so far don’t back those up. Earlier this week reporters from a US TV station embedded with the invading forces were taken to al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital by none other than its chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. The news team was shown a few Kalashnikovs and a motorcycle, of all things. Hagari bent over backwards trying to convince the media and the world that those were proof of his side’s allegations.

His claims were mirrored at al-Shifa by his subordinate, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, who presented as “evidence of terrorist activities” half a dozen AK assault rifles with magazines removed, a laptop and, in a Monty Pythonesque moment, two cans of WD40 anti-rust spray.

Video Duration 27 minutes 40 seconds27:40

Is Israel's attack on Gaza's al-Shifa hospital a war crime?

Anyone who spent time in the Middle East or in any war knows that the venerable Kalashnikovs are present virtually everywhere. It is normal, and legal, for hospitals to have armed guards to protect them from criminals, looters and anyone wanting to misuse them.