The Washington Post’s conclusion that the evidence Israel presented to justify the attack on al-Shifa Hospital falls short of the claim about Hamas using the facility reconfirms Israeli disregard for humanitarian law
Days before Israeli troops stormed the al-Shifa medical complex, the most advanced of Gaza hospitals, on November 15, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari on October 27 cited what he called ‘concrete evidence’ that Hamas was using the facility to direct rocket attacks and command fighters. Hagari claimed the hospital sat atop underground tunnels and that they could be accessed from its wards.
When the compound was raided, the hospital housed hundreds of sick and dying patients and thousands of people displaced due to relentless Israeli bombing. The operations at al-Shifa collapsed as Israeli troops marched on the complex.
Al-Shifa, Gaza’s best-equipped hospital where the morgue had long become dysfunctional, ran out of fuel and ambulances were unable to bring casualties from Gaza’s streets as the IDF encircled, besieged, and then raided the facility. As many as 180 people who died as a result were buried in a mass grave before the Israeli troops stormed the hospital.
World Health Organization (WHO) medics, who evacuated those still inside days later, described the hospital as a death zone. The United Nations (UN) said four premature babies were among at least 40 patients killed in the days leading up to the raid and its aftermath. An undeterred Israel continued attacking Gaza hospitals. Israeli bombing of the Christian-run Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza earlier killed hundreds seeking shelter there from Israeli bombardment.
Tens of thousands of displaced Gazans sought refuge at al-Shifa as Gaza’s health services faltered when Israel began airstrikes in retaliation to the October 7 Hamas. Israel has not afforded protection to Gaza hospitals that such facilities get even in the worst of times.
Over a month after the raid on al-Shifa, The Washington Post found the evidence Israel presented fell short of showing Hamas was using the hospital as a command and control center. It analyzed open-source visuals, satellite imagery, and IDF’s publicly released materials to conclude this.
The Post analysis again confirmed Israel’s disregard for humanitarian law and the civilian harm it has caused disproportionate to the threats it has claimed. It showed the rooms connected to the tunnel network showed no immediate evidence of Hamas using it. None of the five hospital buildings appeared to be connected to the network. The Post found no evidence that the tunnels could be accessed from inside hospital wards.
The United States (US), which has maintained its unqualified support to Israel, declassified intelligence assessments saying they bolstered Israel’s claims about al-Shifa hours before IDF stormed the complex. Israeli and the US reiterated their claims in the aftermath of the raid.
An American official told The Post they were ‘absolutely confident’ in the intelligence that Hamas was using al-Shifa as a command and control node. The official accused Hamas of holding the hostages in the hospital compound until it was stormed.
An IDF spokesperson told The Post that they have published ‘extensive, irrefutable evidence that points to the abuse of the Shifa hospital complex by Hamas for terrorism purposes, and underground terrorism activity’. The spokesperson refused to provide additional information when asked for more evidence. The IDF has not commented on the military advantage sought or achieved.
The Post noted the underground tunnel Israeli forces uncovered after the raid points to a possible militant presence underneath the hospital at some point. However, it does not prove that a command node was operating there during the latest Israeli assault on Gaza.
The Post reported that Hagari’s October 27 news conference sent ripples of fear through the hospital. The staff viewed it as a pretext for military action before communications networks went down across Gaza hours later. British Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta, who was working at the hospital that night, told The Post that the bombardment, which began on the buildings surrounding al-Shifa, was so close that the hospital was shaking violently.
Israel’s military effectively sealed off al-Shifa from the outside world by early November as thousands of civilians were trapped inside. The hospital ran out of electricity to power its incubators, killing at least two premature babies on November 11. In the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, dozens more died over the following days as the Palestine Red Crescent could no longer send ambulances to assist or evacuate the wounded.
On November 15, the IDF claimed to be carrying out a ‘precise and targeted operation’ against Hamas in a specific area of the complex, and that it killed militants outside the complex. Hours later, Israeli forces were in complete control as they went from room to room to question staff and patients, and asked some to gather in the courtyard near the mass grave where the dead were buried.
The Post said it analyzed satellite imagery and photographs on social media to map damage to the hospital and locate the gravesite, just inside the eastern gates of the hospital complex. The imagery from November 26 showed damage to al-Shifa Hospital. The Post assessed damage by comparing imagery from Planet Labs and Maxar Technologies.
Medics and patients at al-Shifa begged for safe passage when WHO aid workers arrived there on November 18. Several dozen premature babies were bawling and two more of them died before the WHO evacuation vehicles arrived.
The Post said it was unable to independently verify to whom the weapons IDF claimed to have seized from the hospital belonged or how they came to be inside its radiology unit. Hagari traversed a tunnel beneath al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in a video released on November 22. The Post could not verify his claims. It added the bare, white-tiled rooms showed no immediate evidence of use—for command and control or otherwise. The Post said there were no signs of recent habitation, including litter, food containers, clothing, or other personal items.
The Hamas described claims about its use of al-Shifa as part of a ‘campaign of blatant lies’. By the time the hospital was attacked, almost half of the major medical facilities in northern Gaza had been targeted or damaged, The Post said citing analysis of data from not-for-profit research group Insecurity Insight. Other Gaza hospitals have since been closed or have pared back operations. They are barely functional as airstrikes continue and casualties mount.
At least eight patients were killed as Israel destroyed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and put the facility out of service. The hospital’s director Ahmed al-Kahlot was arrested and Israel released a video showing him admitting to being a member of Hamas. Gaza’s health ministry said the statement was made under the force of oppression, torture, and intimidation to justify Israel’s crimes, especially against Gaza hospitals.
In December, Israeli troops besieged the Al-Awda Hospital as doctors continued treating patients even as fuel and food ran low. Doctors Without Borders later said that Israeli forces had taken control of the facility and men and boys over 16, including medics, were taken outside and stripped, bound, and interrogated. Dozens of patients remained in the wards, as the supplies of anesthetics and oxygen ran out.
