Israel claims it has evidence Hamas used the basement of a children’s hospital to hold hostages, guns, rockets, grenades and vests.
Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari showed the entrance to a tunnel he said leads to Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital.
He then led the camera to a room seemingly intended for children, with scores of weapons laying on the ground – against the backdrop of a colourful tree painted on a pink wall.
Admiral Hagari said: “Look at what Hamas is holding inside the hospital. I want you to understand, this kind of gear is gear for a major fight.
“These are explosives. These are vests with explosives. It’s a body vest for terrorists to explode on forces – among hospitals, among patients.
“And then we have RPGs – people shooting RPGs from hospitals. This is Hamas, firing RPGs from hospitals. The world has to understand who Israel is fighting against."
EXCLUSIVE RAW FOOTAGE: Watch IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari walk through one of Hamas' subterranean terrorist tunnels—only to exit in Gaza's Rantisi hospital on the other side.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 13, 2023
Inside these tunnels, Hamas terrorists hide, operate and hold Israeli hostages against their… pic.twitter.com/Nx4lVrvSXH
He went on to point out a motorcycle he said was used in the October 7 massacre, pointing to bullet holes in the bike as proof.
“So they came back from the massacre on October 7 to Rantisi Hospital, with the hostages on the motorcycle,” Admiral Hagari said.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) believes the basement was used to house hostages, citing a chair with women’s clothing and a loose rope at one of the legs.
Admiral Hagari also pointed out a piece of paper with Arabic writing stuck to the wall, claiming this was a rota splitting up guarding shifts for Hamas militants.
His evidence included a curtain he said was used as a background for hostage videos, a “hastily-installed toilet”, a baby bottle on top of a World Health Organisation labelled box and nappies.
The IDF entered the hospital on Monday, after its last patients were evacuated.
Israel has long claimed that Hamas operates from hospitals, using Palestinian civilians as human shields – something the militants deny.
Fighting is intensifying around Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al Shifa, which Israeli troops encircled over the weekend.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the hospital in the past few days and headed to the southern Gaza Strip, including large numbers of displaced people who had taken shelter there.
About 650 patients and 500 staff remain in the hospital, which can no longer function, along with around 2,500 displaced Palestinians sheltering inside with little food or water.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said 32 patients, including three babies, have died since its emergency generator ran out of fuel on Saturday. It said 36 babies, as well as other patients, are at risk of dying because life-saving equipment cannot function.
Early on Tuesday, the Israeli military said in a statement that it has started an effort to transfer incubators from Israel to Shifa. It was not clear if the incubators have been delivered or how they will be powered.
International law gives hospitals special protections during the war. Hospitals can lose those protections if combatants use them to hide fighters or store weapons, but staff and patients must be given plenty of warning to evacuate, and the harm to civilians cannot be disproportionate to the military objective.
As of last Friday, more than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.
At least 1,200 Israelis were killed and an estimated 240 hostages taken when Hamas launched its attack on October 7.
