Israel shows ‘proof’: Hamas using Qatar, Indonesia-funded hospitals for hiding

Israel presented evidence that Hamas was using a Qatari-funded medical centre in the Gaza Strip. In a briefing, Israel Defense Forces (IDF_ spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari showed visual proof of a terrorist tunnel entrance that was exposed by Israeli soldiers at Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Hospital which is located along the coast north of Gaza City. Presenting a video of Hamas firing at Israeli soldiers from inside the hospital which was established in 2016 by the former emir of Qatar, Daniel Hagari said, “Hamas launches rockets on Israel 75 meters from a hospital.”

Daniel Hagari also showed evidence that the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, which was funded by NGOs from Indonesia and was also inaugurated in 2016. There were underground terrorist facilities there before the hospital was constructed, he demonstrated. This comes after the case presented earlier about Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza. Hamas's headquarters is located under the massive Shifa Hospital complex in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

"Hamas is hiding behind hospitals, sickly behind hospitals to hide its war machine," Daniel Hagar said adding, “We will not accept Hamas's cynical use of hospitals to hide their terror infrastructure. It must come to an end. It is a war crime.”

Israel is prioritizing efforts to evacuate Gaza civilians to the safe zone in the south, beyond Wadi Gaza, he said. Hamas continues to try to prevent Gazans from leaving the northern danger zone, he added.

"Hamas is weak without human shields. They are actively stopping Gazans from moving to safer areas," he asserted.

This comes as Israeli military dropped more than 1.5 million leaflets warning civilians to evacuate and relayed nearly six million phone messages in Arabic and conducted nearly 20,000 phone calls with Gaza residents urging them to leave for their safety.