Hamas Command Center Located Underground at Gaza's Largest Hospital... Hamas Denies Allegations

Hospital Map and Recordings of Palestinian Prisoners Presented
Gaza Strip Government Calls It "Fabrication"

Israel claimed that the Hamas command center is located underground at the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip.

This hospital is a place where tens of thousands of Palestinian wounded and displaced people have gathered, and the Gaza Strip government controlled by Hamas has denied the claim as groundless.

On the 28th (local time), the US daily The New York Times (NYT) reported that IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed at a press conference held the previous day that Hamas is hiding a command center underground at Al-Shifa Hospital.

Spokesperson Hagari showed a hospital map marked in various places as Hamas underground facilities and asserted, "Hamas directs rocket attacks and commands troops from here."

He cited undisclosed intelligence as the basis, saying, "Hamas is conducting command and control in several areas of this hospital," and also released an audio file in which an unidentified man tells a woman that the Hamas command center is underground in this hospital.

Al-Shifa Hospital is the largest and most advanced hospital in the Gaza Strip, serving as a lifeline for residents even in peacetime. However, during wartime, it has become a refuge for more than 60,000 people, far exceeding its 700-bed capacity, who are either being treated for injuries from Israeli airstrikes or seeking shelter.

On the 10th (local time), a man carrying an injured child enters Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

Israel has long claimed that Hamas uses this hospital as an operational base and that its leadership is hiding underground there, but this is the first time it has pointed to specific facilities based on intelligence.

Salama Marouf, head of the media office of the Gaza government controlled by Hamas, denied this at a press conference held that night, saying Israel "has not presented a single piece of evidence."

He also claimed that the audio file presented by Hagari was "fabricated."

The next day, on the 28th, Hagari repeated these claims, saying it was to inform that "Hamas is exploiting Gaza Strip civilians."

Additionally, Israel released a video on the 7th, claiming it showed Palestinian prisoners related to Hamas's surprise attack on Israel. One person appearing in the video says, "I heard they are using Al-Shifa Hospital and hiding there."

Israel believes Hamas uses civilians as human shields and operates military operations in civilian facilities such as shopping malls and places of worship, and continues to bomb such facilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.