In an Israeli video, a detainee says Hamas is operating out of a Gaza hospital

As international condemnation mounted over the Israeli military’s arrest late last month of the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday it had new evidence that armed groups had used the hospital as a command center.

The army released footage of what it said was the interrogation of one of more than 240 activists it arrested during the hospital raid, saying it supported Israel’s claims that Hamas and other armed groups were deliberately hiding in hospitals in violation of international law.

The New York Times was unable to independently verify the allegations in the video, or determine the circumstances under which the detainee confessed. Israel has Many Gazans were arrested in Sde Temana military base in southern Israel, where many of them were detained Degrading conditions In it, former detainees described beatings and other violations. The Israeli army denied accusations of systematic violations there.

The short clip published by the army shows a young man who identified himself as Anas Muhammad Fayez Al-Sharif (21 years old), explaining that he was a cleaning supervisor at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and that he has also been a member of the military wing of the Hamas movement since 2021. In the video clip, he says that activists Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups operate out of the hospital, using it to transport and distribute weapons, conduct patrols and as an observation point, because they consider it an impenetrable safe haven. The Israeli occupation forces directly targeted it.

Hospitals are protected under international law, even if they provide medical care to combatants, but if they are used for other actions “harmful to the enemy,” it could make them legitimate targets of military action. However, the military must balance the expected military advantage of any action against the expected harm to civilians, and the harm to civilians must not be disproportionate.

Israel had previously raided Kamal Adwan and attacked areas close to the hospital. In military October Arrest or expulsion Most of the hospital workers were killed during a raid that lasted for several days. Before his arrest in December, the hospital director, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, said that the hospital had been attacked several times in recent months.

Hamas did not respond to requests for comment on Israeli allegations regarding its operations.

Doctors and medical personnel around the world, including in Israel, condemned the raid on Kamal Adwan, and especially the arrest of Dr. Abu Safiya. The hospital was the main provider of medical care for thousands of people who remained in northern Gaza during an intense Israeli military campaign over the past three months to suppress what Israel says is a resurgence of Hamas there.

Dr. Abu Safiya has been vocal in his protests against Israeli military activity throughout the war, often highlighting the suffering in northern Gaza, especially in recent months.

In the days following the raid, the Israeli army confirmed the arrest of Dr. Abu Safiya, saying he had been interrogated as a suspect and accused of being a member of Hamas. Because the movement has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, all types of public services, including health care, are intertwined to varying degrees with Hamas.

Physicians for Human Rights in Israel, an Israeli non-profit group, He said on Sunday The Israeli army rejected the group’s efforts to send a lawyer to see Dr. Abu Safiya to evaluate his condition and the circumstances of his detention. “Despite our urgent requests to send a lawyer, the army says they are prohibited from visiting lawyers” until January 10, the group said.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Saturday that Kamal Adwan Hospital is still standing.Totally out of the jobThe organization “has not received any updates regarding the safety and health of its director” since his arrest. “We continue to urge Israel to release him,” Dr. Tedros said, adding that “attacks on hospitals and health workers must stop.”

On Monday, medical workers demanding the release of Dr. Abu Safiya and an end to attacks on hospitals and health workers in Gaza held a protest in cities across the United States and the world, including San Francisco, New York, Boston, Quebec and London. The marches were organized by Doctors Against Genocide, a global coalition of health care workers based in Michigan and founded in 2023, which called for… doctor. Morning thing And his colleagues were released.

But the Israeli military has long insisted that Hamas and other militant groups have deliberately planted themselves among civilians in violation of international law, and there is no sign that its campaign in Gaza will stop, despite international outrage. Speaking to soldiers in northern Gaza on Monday, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevy, the army’s chief of staff, said of Hamas: “They realize that this has become unbearable. And I’m telling you – we will not stop.”