By Jonathan Schanzer
Monday, October 23, 2023
The
media firestorm over whether Israel attacked the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza is
over. It was an errant rocket shot by the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad group that
exploded near the compound. But another media firestorm is brewing, and it will
focus squarely on the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Al-Shifa is the largest
hospital in Gaza. It is also, according to numerous and credible reports, a
Hamas base of military operations.
The
specifics have been revealed in a steady drip of open-source information dating
back to 2006, when a PBS documentary showed Hamas fighters roaming Shifa’s
halls, intimidating staff, and denying access to parts of the
hospital. The following year, according to Human Rights Watch, Hamas fired at its rival group Fatah from
within the Shifa hospital compound during a Palestinian civil war. As one
doctor said, “the medical staff are suffering from fear
and terror, particularly of the Hamas fighters, who are in every corner of the
hospital.”
In 2008,
the year that marked the first rocket war between Hamas and Israel, the New
York Times noted that Hamas was operating openly within the hospital,
and that members of the group murdered a patient there. One Times report stated that the Hamas
leadership was located in a bunker under the hospital’s burn ward, while the
group fired rockets from areas near the hospital, in an effort to deter an
Israeli response. The following year, the Times cited Yuval
Diskin, the former head of Israel’s internal security services (Shin Bet),
who said Hamas leadership was holed up
in a bunker below building number 2 of Shifa Hospital.
Avi
Dichter, another former head of the Shin Bet, stated in 2009 that Hamas’s
operations in Shifa was an open secret. It was such an open secret that
Hamas operative Rami Misbah Abed-Rabbo admitted himself that Hamas took over
a large bunker under Shifa during the war with Israel in 2008.
During
the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel, multiple credible media outlets reported
on the Hamas operations in the Gaza hospital. The Washington Post reported that Shifa was a “de facto
headquarters” for Hamas. Wall Street Journal reporter Nick
Casey tweeted an image of a Hamas spokesman
giving an interview at a Gaza hospital, saying, “You have to wonder … how
patients at Shifa hospital feel as Hamas uses it as a safe place to see media.”
The tweet was later deleted. Similarly, Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abou
Dagga wrote about how Hamas used Shifa for
military purposes, but then sought to remove the article, fearing for his
family’s safety.
An open
source intelligence report also published in Israel that year cited
Palestinian sources who noted that Hamas used Shifa’s x-ray department as a
jail and interrogation facility. An Amnesty International report the following year cited evidence
of Hamas torturing and killing prisoners in Shifa.
In the
course of my own research on Hamas over the last 10 years, multiple Israeli
officials across multiple government agencies have confirmed the existence of a
Hamas command center below the Shifa hospital. The group is believed to have
constructed significant infrastructure well beneath the ground. This includes
an operations room that effectively serves as the eyes and ears of Hamas across
the Gaza Strip, with direct and secure lines to the Iranian regime, Hezbollah,
other state patrons, and nonstate partners.
Since
the Hamas attack of October 7, Israel has warned that it plans to destroy all
Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. In private conversations with former
Israeli officials, I have heard Shifa mentioned multiple times. Nobody has
stated that Israel is preparing to destroy the command center. But the
implication is not hard to miss.
A ground
invasion might lead to Israeli forces working to clear the compound, floor by
floor, room by room. However, such a battle would put Israeli forces at a
disadvantage. If given a choice, Israel would almost certainly elect to destroy
the command center by air. This would, of course, mean additional misery for
the beleaguered people of Gaza.
There is
a legal term for what Hamas is doing. It is using the medical staff and
patients as “human shields” to protect Hamas terrorists from lawful attack.
Doing so is a war crime, prohibited by the international law of
armed conflict.
The
United Nations and governments worldwide have condemned the use of human
shields. However, none of these actors have come forth yet to condemn Hamas for
using al-Shifa as a military headquarters.
The
coming battle over Shifa promises to be intense. The Israeli, American, and
other governments should reveal what is known about the Hamas presence there
right now. Hamas must be pressured to vacate if tragedy is to be averted.
Of
course, this is easier said than done. Hamas is defiant as Israel prepares for
a ground invasion now. Still, the coming standoff need not lead to the
destruction of the Shifa hospital. Rather, Israel should continue to clear the
northern Gaza Strip and even bombard the entire area surrounding Shifa once
civilians have been evacuated. When it is safe for Israeli forces to enter,
they should surround the hospital and demand that unconditional surrender of
the Hamas leadership still holed up inside.
This is
a drama that should play out in front of the entire world. Should Hamas refuse
to surrender after a period of days or even weeks, Israel should carefully
enter the compound. The first goal must be to defend the lives of all patients
and doctors inside. But, when all is said and done, Israel must emerge from
this compound with photos, videos, captured weapons, and other evidence of
Hamas military activities that took place under the hospital.
Many
critics of Israel have questioned whether a ground invasion could end Hamas.
It’s a fair question. There may not be a military solution on its own. But
military operations supplemented with damning evidence that Hamas has held the
Gaza Strip hostage could prove to be a dramatic moment that swings world opinion
against the Iran-backed terrorist organization, once and for all.
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