[Politics] Gaza health minister asks Israel to prove that there was a Hamas command center at Al Shifa hospital

[TheKnight.]

 

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila told the BBC she has yet to see evidence that there was a Hamas command center at Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital, and said Israeli forces "need to show" proof.

 

Israeli forces entered the hospital buildings on Wednesday, arguing that Hamas had an important base there.

 

Both Israeli and U.S. intelligence say Hamas has used tunnels under the hospital as a command center, but the Palestinian militant group denies this.

 

Minister Al-Kailah told the BBC that "hospitals must be protected and used to comply... professional duties. But Al Shifa hospital has been under Israeli siege for five days, so if there is a Hamas headquarters [there], they need to show it to us."

 

"To defend certain positions, one should not ignore the entire situation of the hospital and its services, as well as the 10,000 civilians who are suffering in this hospital."

 

The BBC and an American television crew were invited by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to see what they say they have found so far in their search at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza.

 

On Wednesday, the BBC saw rifles, ammunition and bulletproof vests that Israel said Hamas had hidden there.

 

The BBC visit was strictly controlled and journalists were not allowed to speak to any doctors or patients at the hospital, although there was no censorship over the words used to describe the visit.

 

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told the BBC film crew: "We discovered a lot of computers and other equipment that could really shed light on the current situation, hopefully also on the hostages."

 

Minister Al-Kailah says the situation at the hospital remains "terrible" and there are no signs of improvement.

 

"There is no drinking water or food available there for health workers, patients or displaced people."

 

He went on to describe the difficult conditions in Gaza's largest hospital.

 

"The atmosphere is [of] horror; we have been informed that people are... terrified [by] the occupying forces.

 

"If there is an army of occupation [organizing a] siege... there will certainly be a feeling of horror and I know this with knowledge because I have been through this in both the first and the second uprising.

 

"Horror reigns among people, especially because most of them are children and women."

 

https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c3g2p5d2r8go