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by i24 News and Algemeiner Staff
Israeli soldiers inspect the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Gaza City, Nov. 15, 2023 in this handout image. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News — Declassified intelligence from American agencies corroborated information on the terrorist organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) using the Shifa Hospital in Gaza as a command and control center for terrorism, as well as for hiding some hostages abducted from Israel on Oct. 7.
“The US Intelligence Community is confident in its judgment on this topic and has independently corroborated information on Hamas and PIJ’s use of the hospital complex for a variety of purposes related to its campaign against Israel,” read a declassified segment of the American assessment shared with news agencies.
The assessment, shared by an American official speaking on condition of anonymity, and based on independent US intelligence, added that the groups “used the al-Shifa hospital complex and sites beneath it to house command infrastructure, exercise certain command and control activities, store some weapons, and hold at least a few hostages.”
Furthermore, the US official said that Hamas operatives destroyed sensitive documents and electronics at the hospital complex, as well as moving most of the hostages held at the site, before the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a multi-day raid on Nov. 15.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency released a statement at the time that a pathological report confirmed the murder of the abducted IDF Corporal Noa Marciano on the hospital premises, as well as CCTV footage showing other hostages being escorted in. After the operation, two hostages were located at or near the large complex.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby backed the Israeli assessment at the time, saying on Nov. 14, “We have information that confirms that Hamas is using that particular hospital for a command and control node.”
The report was first published by the New York Times, and later independently obtained by multiple news agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters. Meanwhile, a still-classified version of the assessment was sent to lawmakers in the US Congress.
