By Olukayode Idowu
The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman has alleged that:
“Hamas is cynically using the Palestinian population of Gaza as human shields, and continues to show a total disregard for the welfare of the Palestinian population.
The Ambassador in a statement on Monday, said while “Israel looks to limit civilian deaths, Hamas wants to maximize civilian deaths – it is why they put their command-and-control centers under hospitals, and fire their rockets from next to schools, mosques and playgrounds. The sooner that Hamas is vanquished, the sooner there can be a better life for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Israel has revealed new evidence that Hamas, is using hospitals, medical facilities, and children’s playgrounds as terror bases in the Gaza strip in clear breach of international law.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari provided video footage of Hamas gunmen emerging from a tunnel under Sheikh Hamad Hospital, as well firing at Israelis forces from within the building itself.
In addition, Hagari presented a video showing an underground entrance from Sheikh Hamad Hospital, which he said connects to a Hamas tunnel networks believed to run for hundreds of kilometers under the Gaza Strip, and has been built over many years.
Hagari added that the IDF has intelligence of a tunnel network under the so-called Indonesian Hospital, as well as aerial imagery showing rocket launchers a few dozen meters from the complex.
Hagari said: “Hamas systematically built the Indonesian Hospital to disguise its underground terror infrastructure.”
The Israel Defense Forces also provided evidence that the Hamas terror group’s main base of operations is under Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, providing visuals and intercepted audio as evidence of the Hamas’ activities.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas has several underground complexes under the Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip — that are used by the their leaders to direct attacks against Israel.
Hagari said Israel has intelligence that there are several tunnels leading to the underground base from outside the hospital so that Hamas officials do not need to enter the hospital to reach it. But added that there is also an entrance to the underground complex from within one of the wards.
Separately, the IDF shared footage of its troops locating rocket-launching positions in civilian areas, amid efforts to uncover and destroy Hamas’s infrastructure. The group was alleged to have used such sites to fire rockets at Israeli population centres. Hagari said troops found four underground launchers some five meters (16 feet) from a children’s swimming pool, and around 30 meters from residential homes in the northern Gaza Strip, footage showed. Another clip showed troops locating a number of rocket launchers within a children’s playground and amusement park compound. They also fire from next to water desalination plants.