- The IDF’s operational failure was evident as the hospital, initially suspected to house the Hamas headquarters, was found to be a civilian facility, raising questions about the accuracy of IDF claims and the adherence to internationally recognised rules of war.
- Media scrutiny revealed inconsistencies in IDF-released footage, including doubts about the authenticity of discovered weapons and an underground tunnel, suggesting potential attempts at manipulating public perception.
In the early morning hours of the 15th of November, the Israeli Defence Forces invaded the al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical centre in the Gaza Strip. This comes following a week ofrelentless assaults and bombing campaigns in Gaza, described by many as a “war on hospitals.” Leading up to the invasion, Israeli officials publicly stated the al-Shifa hospital was a command center for Hamas, despite numerous health workers and doctors expressing otherwise. In a statement given to Al Jazeera, Mohammed Zaqout, the director-general of hospitals in the Gaza Strip said, “It is a civilian hospital. There is no member of Hamas in al-Shifa Hospital. There is no military activity in al-Shifa. All that happened is around the hospital but inside the hospital, all of the people are civilians.”
Prior to the raid, Israeli officials neglected to provide any evidence suggesting the al-Shifa hospital was a base of operations for Hamas. The events following the invasion have sparked severe global condemnation. The World Health Organization (WHO) have stated this operation is “totally unacceptable.” The WHO, in coordination with OCHA, UNDSS, UNMAS/UNOPS, and UNRWA, conducted a 1-hour assessment of the hospital and described al-Shifa as a “death zone” for innocent civilians as mass graves begin to block the entrance of the facility. Sources on the ground have stated there was no longer any fuel or electricity to support the wounded, putting nearly a thousand patients at risk, 100 of which are in critical condition. In addition, 29 premature babies were rushed south into Egypt as the raid on the compound commenced.
The Israeli Defense Forces seized the hospital the same day of the invasion and released footage of evidence indicating Hamas held a presence within the compound, putting into motion a media campaign. Although, there were some notableinconsistencies. In a video published by the IDF, spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus is shown leading a tour throughout the besieged al-Shifa hospital with the time being 13:18 indicated by a watch worn on his wrist. The video shows less weapons present at the scene than when news and film crews arrived later that night. CNN suggested the IDF may have “rearranged” or planted the weapons. The IDF stated the video was also unedited, but the BBC analyzed the video and found that it was edited. The weapons found were also shown to bebeside an MRI machine, a medical instrument sensitive to metal. An MRI machine exposed to nearby metal would interfere with lab results which effectively renders the apparatus inoperable. More questions were raised as to why the weapons would be in that room since it would disable an essential piece of medical equipment.
Another video was published indicating the IDF had found an underground tunnel, but it was later discovered to be an abandoned transmitter facility in Sweden. Claims of the IDF trying to manipulate the media began to circulate, so much in fact that they released a statement stating, “Suggestions that the IDF is manipulating the media are incorrect.” They also mentioned, “We are acting with full transparency whilst maintaining the safety of our troops and operational readiness.”
The IDF’s invasion of the al-Shifa hospital proved to be an operational failure. It was suspected this compound housed the Hamas headquarters, but it did not, and there is reason to believe it never did. The Israeli government has made it clear it will abandon the internationally recognized rules of war by targeting civilian infrastructure then lie about it as being a Hamas run facility, as it was pointed out on the BBC, and the raid on the al-Shifa hospital is proof of that. The Israeli government neglected to provide evidence of the hospital housing Hamas fighters prior to the invasion, and the evidence they provided after the invasion was quickly debunked as nothing more than war propaganda with significant inconsistencies.
Mai El-Sadany, a human rights lawyer and the executive director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, in Washington, has said, “Israel has failed to provide anywhere even close to the level of evidence required to justify the narrow exception under which hospitals can be targeted under the laws of war.” He added, “At every stage of this legal assessment, Israel has fallen abysmally short. It has provided photo and video footage that is far from commensurate with its initial claims.” Eventually, these matters might be presented for official judgment. While Israel does not acknowledge the international criminal court, the court recognizes Palestine as a member and has been investigating potential war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories since 2021. This is perhaps the only silver lining amidst the aftermath of the raid on the al-Shifa hospital.
