Early Wednesday, Israeli ground forces in Gaza began storming the grounds of Al-Shifa hospital, which Israel has repeatedly alleged was being used as a secret stronghold by Hamas — which both hospital officials and Hamas have denied. Al-Shifa is the largest medical center in Gaza, and it has been struggling to function amid a shortage of fuel, oxygen, food, and water after Israel cut off the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’s October 7 attack. Thousands of Palestinian civilians have sought refuge at the hospital, as well.
Israel has not finished searching Al-Shifa, but says it has already found evidence that Hamas was using the hospital — though it has not produced concrete proof to corroborate its claims that the facility was a critical hub for Hamas. Below is a look at the evidence Israel has put forward thus far, and why the hospital and its fate have become a focal point in the war and ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
What does Israel say it has found at Al-Shifa?
Israel continues to report that it has found evidence of Hamas activity at the hospital. There has been no independent verification of the images, footage, or allegations Israel has put forward thus far.
Alleged footage of militants bringing hostages into al-Shifa
On Sunday, the IDF released CCTV footage which it said showed militants bringing two hostages to the hospital on the morning of October 7. The time-stamped footage shows armed men bringing two people into al-Shifa, one of whom resisted the men, and the other who appeared to be injured and was on a stretcher.
Israel has not found any hostages inside al-Shifa. On Thursday night, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview, “We had strong indications that [hostages] were held in the Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital,” but “if they were [there], they were taken out” before Israeli forces arrived.
The IDF says it has found the bodies of two hostages near Al-Shifa, however. On Thursday, Israel said it had discovered the body of 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss, a kindergarten teacher and cancer patient who was kidnapped by militants from the Be’eri kibbutz on October 7. Her husband was killed in the attack. The IDF said it recovered her body from a structure adjacent to the hospital. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Thursday that militants’ weapons were found near her remains and that she “was killed by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, and we didn’t manage to reach her in time.”
On Friday, the IDF announced that it had discovered the body of another hostage, 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, in a building adjacent to Al-Shifa. The timing and circumstances of her death are not clear either. Hamas had previously announced that Marciano was killed in an Israeli airstrike on November 9. Israel says it has evidence she was killed by Hamas.
Evidence of tunnels
On Thursday, the IDF released footage of what it said was an “operational tunnel shaft” it had found after excavating beneath what appeared to have been a demolished small structure on the northern perimeter of the hospital grounds.
On Sunday, it released more footage:
Small weapons caches
On Wednesday, the IDF released images and video of small caches of weapons and other equipment it said it had found in a radiology unit at Al-Shifa, as well as laptops it alleged were part of a Hamas command center inside. It also offered brief escorted tours of the radiology unit to a pair of international news crews.
The IDF also released a video on Thursday showing a white pickup truck it said it had found in the complex which contained automatic guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and other weapons.
What are Israel’s previous allegations about the hospital?
Israel has long maintained that Hamas uses Gaza hospitals to shield its terrorist operations and has specifically alleged that the militant group built its “main headquarters” under Al-Shifa. On October 27, the IDF put out a package of information to back up its case, including infographics and a video 3-D diagram detailing Hamas infrastructure in, under, and around the hospital complex:
Underneath [Al-Shifa] lies a labyrinth of tunnels and underground compounds used by Hamas’ leaders to direct terrorist activities and rocket fire and to manufacture and store a variety of weapons and ammunition. Additionally, the hospital’s generators are used to launch rockets. The entrance to Hamas’ underground headquarters consists of a number of tunnel shafts adjacent to the hospital. Additional entrances are located in various departments of the hospital, including the admissions department, putting all patients at risk.
Per the maps and diagrams, the IDF alleged that there were four subterranean complexes constructed under hospital buildings, as well as a command center inside a clinic.
The U.S. has largely backed up Israel’s allegations
On Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced that the U.S. believed Hamas and another militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, have been using Al-Shifa “as a way to conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages.” A Pentagon spokesperson said that:
They have tunnels underneath these hospitals. And so Hamas and PIJ members operate a command-and-control node from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. They have weapons stored there and are prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against the facility.
The assessment was based on independently gathered signals intelligence and other information, but The Wall Street Journal reported that “The U.S. hasn’t been able to determine details of Hamas’s alleged operations at Al-Shifa, including their size and scope or whether the group’s fighters are operating inside the hospital, underground or both, a U.S. official said.”
On Wednesday, President Biden defended Israel’s Al-Shifa raid, arguing that “one thing that’s been established is that Hamas does have headquarters, weapons, materials below this hospital and I suspect others,” adding that the U.S. has spoken with Israel about “the need for them to be incredibly careful.”
On Thursday, the White House and Pentagon declined to further elaborate:
This post has been updated to add new reporting.
