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The USA has intelligence that reveals that Hamas has been utilizing hospitals in Gaza, together with Al-Shifa, as command facilities and ammunitions depots, a spokesman for the Nationwide Safety Council mentioned on Tuesday.
John F. Kirby, the spokesman, mentioned that the intelligence, gathered from American-generated sources, supported Israel’s allegation that Hamas has been working out of hospitals, which Mr. Kirby mentioned amounted to a conflict crime.
Mr. Kirby declined to supply particulars concerning the U.S. intelligence, however he made clear that it goes past the data collected by the Israeli intelligence service. “It comes from a wide range of intelligence strategies — of our personal, of our personal,” he mentioned, including that the classification of the intelligence had been downgraded in order that it may very well be shared publicly.
“I can verify for you that now we have data that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals within the Gaza Strip, together with Al-Shifa, and tunnels beneath them, to hide and to help their army operations and to carry hostages,” Mr. Kirby informed reporters on Air Drive One as President Biden headed to San Francisco for a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders.
“Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad — J.I.D. — members function a command and management node from Al-Shifa in Gaza Metropolis,” he added. “They’ve saved weapons there, and so they’re ready to answer an Israeli army operation towards that facility.”
The revelation of the U.S. intelligence comes as Israel is below harsh worldwide criticism for assaults on and round hospitals because it conducts a conflict towards Hamas within the wake of the armed group’s terrorist assaults on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel says greater than 1,200 individuals had been killed within the assaults and that 239 others stay hostages.
Throughout Israel’s ensuing army marketing campaign to eradicate Hamas, it has repeatedly mentioned that its army seeks to keep away from casualties amongst civilians, together with sufferers and docs at hospitals. However they’ve insisted that Hamas makes use of such individuals as human shields.
Mr. Kirby mentioned that the USA doesn’t help assaults from the air on hospitals, regardless of what he mentioned was the confirmed use of the amenities by Hamas.
“We don’t help placing a hospital from the air,” he mentioned. “And we don’t need to see a firefight in a hospital the place harmless individuals, helpless individuals, sick persons are merely attempting to get the medical care that they deserve, to not be caught in a crossfire. Hospitals and sufferers should be protected.”
He known as that concern an “added burden” for Israel in its army marketing campaign towards Hamas.
Palestinian officers and docs at Al-Shifa have denied that the hospital has been utilized by Hamas. However Mr. Kirby mentioned that the newly revealed U.S. intelligence supported Israel’s arguments as its army closed in on the hospital.
“We now have data that confirms that Hamas is utilizing that specific hospital for a command and management node and possibly storage of apparatus weapons up beneath,” he mentioned. “That may be a conflict crime.”
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