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Hamas Can't Hide behind Hospitals Anymore

(Spectator-UK) Dr. Limor Simhony Philpott - Israeli forces are operating in Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis. The IDF notified the hospital in advance and has taken measures to minimize harm to civilians, hospital staff and medical equipment. Many Gazan hospitals have dual uses. They have tunnels under them into which terrorists can enter. Hamas has established command centers in or under hospitals, and has used them for hiding weapons and firing missiles into Israel or against military forces. Vulnerable patients make effective human shields, and attacking them makes Israel look bad. Although hospitals are considered protected under international humanitarian law, if they are used by a party to a conflict for "acts harmful to an enemy," they are no longer protected by law. In other words, Hamas' cynical use of hospitals has turned them into valid military targets. Israel has to enter them in order to destroy Hamas infrastructure and communications abilities, confiscate weapons, and to look for hostages. Hamas has been using hospitals in this way for many years, knowing that Israel prefers to refrain from attacking them - until the war made it a necessity. Al Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, for example, was found to be the hiding place of Hamas' internal security command center and was regularly manned by armed terrorists. The command center was used to direct rocket attacks and Hamas ground forces. The hospital also hid a large arsenal of weapons. Similarly, the IDF has uncovered tunnels, weapons and evidence of hostages in Al-Rantisi hospital in Gaza City. The IDF also discovered Hamas tunnels under the Qatari hospital and apprehended terrorists operating from the Kamal Adwan hospital - with the hospital's director revealing to Israeli interrogators that Hamas had turned his hospital into a military facility. The writer is a former research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv.
2024-02-19 00:00:00
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