TEL AVIV, November 15. /TASS/. Israeli troops continue to search the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, and have already detected weapons, military equipment and a command center belonging to the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
"We have found weapons, intelligence materials, military vehicles and equipment in the hospital. We also found a command center and communications equipment belonging to Hamas. The equipment and materials are being examined by our intelligence agencies," he said during an evening briefing.
Hagari added that the Israeli military "continues to search the hospital in a goal-oriented manner based on intelligence information."
"We will continue to do so, in order to gather further information, to discover additional assets, and to expose the terror activities within the hospital," he explained. According to Hagari, the military is in contact with medical staff to ensure the patients’ evacuation.
"Today, we delivered medical equipment, baby food and medicines to the hospital," he said.
According to the top brass, Al-Shifa and other hospitals were used by Hamas as a shelter.
"These discoveries we made at [Al-]Shifa, as well as at the Rantisi hospital, prove unequivocally that military use was made of the hospitals for terror purposes, in complete contravention to international law," Hagari said.
Meanwhile, the IDF press service published a video taken in the MRI suite of the Al-Shifa clinic. The footage shows bags containing assault rifles, grenades and munitions, as well as other military equipment hidden by Hamas supporters in the hospital, according to the IDF. One of the bulletproof vests found in a medical room has the insignia of the Izz ad-din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing. In addition, communications equipment, laser disks and computers, which the Israeli military said were used by radicals, were also found in the hospital.
Escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory on October 7, when many Israelis living in the settlements near the border were killed and more than 200 people, including children, women and the elderly, were taken hostage. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.