Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila told the BBC she has not yet seen evidence that there was a Hamas command center at Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital, and said Israeli forces “need to show” evidence. .
Israeli forces entered hospital buildings on Wednesday, arguing that Hamas had a major base there.
Both Israeli and American intelligence say Hamas has used tunnels under the hospital as a command center, but the Palestinian militant group denies this.
Minister Al-Kailah told the BBC that “hospitals must be protected and used to fulfill… professional duties. But Al Shifa Hospital has been under Israeli siege for five days, so there is a Hamas headquarters. [allí], “They need to show it to us.”.
“To defend certain positions, we must not ignore the entire situation of the hospital and its services, as well as the 10,000 civilians who are suffering in this hospital.”
“That’s why I think this war should stop, because it is destructive for everyone and no one is winning“.
The BBC entered the hospital
The BBC and an American television crew were invited by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to see what they say they have found so far in their search at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza.
On Wednesday, the BBC spotted rifles, ammunition and body armor that Israel said Hamas had hidden there.
The BBC visit was strictly controlled and journalists were not allowed to speak to any doctors or patients in the hospital, although there was no censorship about the words used to describe the visit.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told the BBC film crew: “We discovered a lot of computers and other equipment that could really shed light on the current situation, hopefully also on the hostages.”
Minister Al-Kailah says the situation at the hospital remains “terrible” and there are no signs of improvement.
“There is no drinking water there nor food available for health workers, patients or displaced people.”
He went on to describe the difficult conditions in Gaza’s largest hospital.
“The atmosphere is [de] horror; We have been informed that people are… terrified [por] the occupation forces.
“If there is an occupying army [organizando un] siege… there will certainly be a feeling of horror and I know this knowingly because I have been through this in both the first and second uprisings.
“Horror reigns among the people, especially because “The majority are children and women.”
The role of the United States
The raid on the hospital by Israeli forces came just hours after the United States said, for the first time, that its own intelligence supported Israel’s claims that Hamas had located a command center under Al Shifa hospital, a claim consistently rejected by the ruling group in Gaza.
Hamas blamed the White House, saying the US president is, along with Israel, “fully responsible” for the attack. He said comments from US intelligence had provided a “green light” for Israel to launch its attack.
US President Joe Biden said last week that Hospitals must be protected and the patients.
“We do not support attacking a hospital from the air and we do not want to see a shooting at a hospital where innocent, defenseless and sick people, trying to get the medical care they deserve, are caught in the crossfire,” a Security Council spokesperson said. White House National.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli forces had “destroyed the radiology department, blown up the burn and dialysis department” and were now “investigating the doctors, the wounded and the displaced” at the hospital.
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