On Wednesday, the research institute NGO Monitor shared documents from Hamas' internal security apparatus, including quotations that describe how the organization embeds its military elements – terrorists and senior officials – in Gaza hospitals, and how international aid organizations were aware of what was occurring. The documents are public and are not classified.
For years, the international community voiced skepticism about claims regarding Hamas' use of hospitals. In the documents, which are dated February and March 2020, Hamas declares unequivocally that health facilities in Gaza are not neutral zones but instead play a crucial role in its terror network – as assembly points for terrorists, as locations for storing military equipment, and as sites with security and intelligence value. It also comes to light that senior Hamas officials were frequently present at these facilities.
For example, the documents indicate that Hamas was concerned that "hostile parties" would collect intelligence on medical facilities, given that they "serve as places where the wounded... who hold sensitive positions in the resistance... are gathered in during times of escalation." Medical facilities were also designated as "gathering for many commanders of the movement [i.e. Hamas] and the government in times of escalation."
The documents mention that the Red Cross "has chosen [to operate] in a wing inside Al-Shifa Hospital that is adjacent to the [Hamas] movement's offices." Furthermore, it is revealed that Hamas set up a secure communications infrastructure inside hospitals, even within spaces where non-governmental organizations were active. For instance, "Doctors Without Borders (MSF) France chose the only room in Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital that has a (safe) communication landline which belongs to the positive's activity (a moniker for Hamas' military wing)... in order for MSF to work in it separately," it was written.
It also comes to light that Hamas placed severe limitations on foreign medical delegations to inhibit the exposure of the organization's use of hospitals. A document notes that "much of the services provided have a security aspect to them since these involve people wounded as a result of the occupation's aggression and burns, mainly resistance members or activists [in Hamas-guided operations]." Additionally, it was determined that foreign medical teams would be allowed to operate only in designated, pre-authorized areas. "The Ministry of Health permits medical delegations to move in specific places... but it prohibits movement within the hospital where the delegation is active."
Hamas also insisted that "work should not be conducted with medical delegations if senior resistance officials are (present), and regarding the simple operatives (of Hamas), caution should be taken." It was also noted that "medical members [of Hamas] from Gaza will join incoming delegations, whether they work in hospitals and their [NGOs] designated locations"
The documents enumerate the names of the non-governmental organizations and international agencies active inside Gaza's hospitals – and the reality that they function according to Hamas' directives.
"The evidence of complicity is blatant," said Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. "This document exposes the hypocrisy of supposedly humanitarian international organizations like the Red Cross, Doctors without Borders and the Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC). While repeatedly echoing Hamas allegations and condemning Israel's operations to end the exploitation of hospitals for terror, these groups clearly knew that Hamas exploited these facilities, and chose to remain silent. To make hospitals in Gaza safe for everyone, the NGO and UN code of silence must be broken."
