The director of a hospital in northern Gaza has confessed to being a senior Hamas commander, and described how the Palestinian terrorist group is using hospitals as military bases—a assertion consistently made by Israel, but dismissed by Western liberal commentators and politicians.
Ahmad Kahlot, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya, was captured by Israeli forces last week during a raid of the hospital, and interrogated by the Shin Bet intelligence service. A video of his confession in which he described how Hamas transformed the hospital into an operational hub was published on Tuesday, December 19th.
He revealed that sixteen staff members of the hospital, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics, were members of Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, and around 100 Hamas terrorists had inhabited the hospital for days before moving to another location. Some of the group’s leaders even had offices with private phone lines inside the facility. Hamas had its own ambulances and equipment with different colors and signs. Asked why Hamas had chosen the hospital as an operational hub, Kahlot explained:
Because for them, the hospital is a safe space. They won’t be targeted when they’re inside the hospital.
Kahlot—who joined Hamas in 2010 as a lieutenant colonel—said Hamas did not care about the patients at the hospital. “Once I begged them to take a wounded man to the Indonesian Hospital or Shifa Hospital for treatment. They refused,” he said. “Their mission was more important.” The director described Hamas leaders as cowards: “They left us out in the open while they have gone into hiding,” he said. “The people are the ones who pay the price.”
Israel is currently waging a campaign against Hamas in Gaza after the terrorist group killed around 1,200 civilians on October 7th and took around 240 people hostage. There was a temporary, seven-day pause in fighting at the end of November, during which time Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel were exchanged. Hamas and other terrorist groups are still holding an estimated 129 captives.
Israel has long maintained that Hamas uses hospitals throughout Gaza as secret military bases and Palestinian civilians as human shields. Throughout the war, Israel has released photos and video footage showing weapons and other military installations inside or next to mosques, schools, and hospitals. Israeli forces rounded up about 90 suspected Hamas terrorists inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital and seized piles of weapons when they breached the facility last week. On Tuesday, December 19th, the army raided and detained staff at two of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza’s north.
While calls for a ceasefire have been made by leaders across the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will keep fighting until it ends Hamas rule in Gaza, crushes its military capabilities, and frees all the hostages.
