ISRAEL have accused Hamas of using sick women and children as human shields in order to operate their HQ from beneath Gaza’s main hospital.
The Israeli military provided evidence on Friday of the Islamic group using Al Shifa hospital as protection for its tunnels and operational centres.
TwitterTHE IDF have provided images of the Al Shifa hospital to show where Hamas’s underground HQ is based[/caption]
Twitter/@sentdefenderIllustrations have been provided to show the network of tunnels beneath the hospital that are being used by Hamas to construct their attacks[/caption]
Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, revealed the shocking findings on the cowardly terrorists in a news conferenceTwitter/@IDF
Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, revealed the shocking findings on the cowardly terrorists in a news conference.
“Hamas has turned hospitals into command and control centres and hideouts for Hamas terrorists and commanders,” he said.
“Hamas terrorists operate inside and under Shifa hospital and other hospitals in Gaza.”
Photographs, diagrams and audio recordings were provided to show how Hamas was using the hospital system to hide a variety of command posts and entry points into the extensive tunnel network under Gaza.
The Israeli military has regularly accused Hamas of basing leadership and operational centres in residential areas or around schools and hospitals.
In response, Hamas official Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the movement’s political bureau, said on Telegram: “There is no basis in truth to what was reported by the enemy army spokesman,”
He proceeded to accuse Israel of spreading lies as “a prelude to committing a new massacre against our people”.
The comments came as Israeli forces have massed outside Gaza and conducted raids into the enclave in preparation for an expected ground offensive.
Israeli jets and artillery have since pounded the enclave, destroying large areas and killing more than 7,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures.
IDF Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told The Sun that Israel are encouraging civilians in northern Gaza to head south, with further action to deal with Hamas on the way.
He said: “For about 2 weeks now we’ve been calling on the people of Northern Gaza to go south. We’re still calling on that and hoping that people will listen, especially after our expose today.
“We know what the hospital is hiding. We know how Hamas is abusing healthcare. We know that the hospital should be used for healing.
“We know what is happening there. We’re still appealing to people to get out of the site and get away from this terrible breach of international humanitarian law.
“And we’re pursuing that. Will that mean there will be further action? I can’t say at this time.
“But indeed there is a serious threat here because of the magnitude of this terrorist organisation.”
U.N. officials have called for a pause in fighting to allow aid into the enclave, where more than one million people have been displaced.
They have warned they may have to cease operations if no fuel supplies get through.
However, Israeli officials claim that Hamas has significant reserves of fuel it uses for its own operations.
“There is fuel in hospitals in Gaza and Hamas is using it for its terrorist infrastructure,” Admiral Hagari said.
Israel is still running the risk of murdering its own civilians in strikes of Hamas, with hostages still being held by the Islamic Movement.
But 50 Israeli hostages have already been killed in Israel’s air strikes on Gaza, the terror group claimed.
The organisation’s armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, released a statement blaming the deaths on “Zionist strikes”.
Ahead of an expected full blown invasion of Gaza, 200 Brits are still trying to flee the Strip – with Border Force on standby in Egypt to extract them.
There are hopes of a deal to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza — re-opened briefly for the first time last week to let limited aid through.
Twitter/@IDFIDF have provided illustrations of the main hospital in Gaza and the Hamas network beneath it[/caption]
Twitter/@IDFIsrael are encouraging civilians in northern Gaza to head south, with further action to deal with Hamas on the way[/caption]
Twitter/@IDFIsraeli officials claim that Hamas has significant reserves of fuel it uses for its own operations[/caption]