Nasser Hospital was used as a command center by Hamas, the IDF said, following MSF’s decision to halt noncritical medical activity due to armed presence.
The Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, which Doctors Without Borders has left, is not just a weapons storage spot for terror, but a full-fledged Hamas headquarters, the IDF said on Sunday.
“For over two years, the IDF and the defense establishment have warned about the cynical use by terrorist organizations in Gaza of hospitals and humanitarian shelters as human shields to conceal terrorist activity,” stated the military.
Following the statement made by Doctors Without Borders, “regarding the reduction of its operations due to the presence of armed individuals, the IDF indeed possesses intelligence indicating that Nasser Hospital is being used as a headquarters and military post for senior Hamas commanders and operatives in southern Gaza.”
“This is an important decision, but one that comes too late. This is further proof that reinforces the necessity for the disarmament of the Hamas terror organization,” concluded the IDF.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Saturday announced the suspension of all noncritical medical operations in Nasser Hospital after reports emerged of armed men using the facility to move weapons and interrogate patients.
“In recent months, in Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, patients and MSF personnel have seen armed men, some masked, in different areas of the large compound of the hospital,” the nonprofit organization said in a statement published on its website.
It also specified that these situations occurred in parts of the medical compound where the MSF is not conducting activities.
“With an uptick since the ceasefire, MSF teams have reported a pattern of unacceptable acts – including the presence of armed men, intimidation, arbitrary arrests of patients, and a recent situation of suspicion of movement of weapons,” MSF said, adding that “these incidents pose serious security threats to our teams and patients.”
The organization said that “MSF formally expressed our strong concern to the relevant authorities, and emphasized the incompatibility of such violations with MSF’s medical mission. Hospitals must remain neutral, civilian spaces, free from military presence or activity, to ensure the safe and impartial delivery of medical care.”
According to a Reuters report, this directive was also applied to several other hospitals in southern Gaza where armed men were spotted.
The Post visits Shifa Hospital
In November 2023, The Jerusalem Post visited Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza up close and saw the extensive, heavy, and regular weapons Hamas had been hiding there.
The stash included rocket-propelled grenades, large offensive drones capable of dropping grenades on soldiers, heavy rifles, and other weapons.
In addition, thePost entered the tunnel network Hamas had been using under Shifa Hospital, which included extensive rooms for various functions and branched in multiple directions to connect the area to other parts of northern Gaza and southern Gaza.