Medics and patients pictured at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023. Photo: AFP.
By Mouin Rabbani – Nov 13, 2023
I have never been underneath Al-Shifa Hospital and have no idea what is or isn’t there. It is however clear that Israeli accusations regarding the hospital are 80 per cent assertion, 20 per cent drawings, and 100 per cent unverified. The enthusiastic confirmation of Israel’s assertions by US intelligence officials and European politicians, with zero additional evidence provided, add nothing to the accusations. The confirmations provided by Hamas prisoners can also be safely dismissed. Both because torture in Israeli prisons is systematic, and because as a matter of elementary logic there is no reason ordinary cadres would possess detailed information about the clandestine headquarters and movements of their secretive leadership.
Hospital staff, foreign doctors, and others have all vigorously disputed Israel’s claims of numerous – indeed of any – tunnel entrances/exits within the hospital compound. Logically this makes sense. A hospital is a public institution open at all hours 24/7/365 to members of the public, including inquisitive journalists, spies, and Israeli intelligence agents who could easily collect photographic evidence of Israeli assertions rather than resorting to drawings and graphics.
The argument about human shields also makes little sense. The claim that non-combatant casualties restrain Israeli military operations has zero evidence in the historical record, and those allegedly hiding below Al-Shifa Hospital know this. By contrast there is ample evidence of Israeli campaigns deliberately and/or indiscriminately targeting civilians to generate pressure on combatants and their leaders.
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This entire debate can be easily resolved by an independent investigation. Tellingly the Palestinians, including Hamas and the Gaza authorities, have repeatedly invited this, suggesting that the ICRC or other international organizations carry it out. Israel has not supported an investigation that is not carried out under its auspices, and has additionally prevented the entry of any journalist or investigator into the Gaza Strip.
Pending such an investigation, the conclusion that Al-Shifa Hospital is being targeted because Israel needs a symbolic victory after elevating it to the status of Iwo Jima, and has convinced itself that conquering Al-Shifa will terminate Hamas governance in the Gaza Strip, seems reasonable. If and when Israeli forces enter Al-Shifa, expect to see evidence exceeding Israeli claims provided by the Israeli military, faithfully parroted by Western media but denied independent verification. The reality, I suspect, will prove as substantiated as Iraqi WMD.
Speaking of Iraqi WMD, NYT reports, “Senior Israeli intelligence officials allowed The Times to review photographs that purported to show secret entrances to the compound from inside the hospital. Signs identifying the location as Al Shifa were clearly visible in the photographs, though their authenticity could not be independently verified.” NYT has been awarded numerous Pulitzers for its investigative reporting, and takes great pride in it. What prevented NYT from sending a reporter to the hospital, comparing the photographs with the entrance inside the hospital clearly marked by “signs,” and then taking a peek at what’s inside?
(Substack)
