A British doctor who three years ago spent three months working at Shifa Hospital in Gaza and in the West Bank, was recently interviewed by the English-language channel of France24. What he described is one more confirmation of what Israel has maintained all along: Shifa Hospital was where a major Hamas command-and-control base was located, in the tunnels under the hospital, which could be accessed directly from hidden entrances inside the hospital. More on his testimony that supports Israel’s claims can be found here: “UK doctor who worked at Shifa confirms Gaza hospital used for ‘non-medical purposes,’” by Gianluca Pacchiani, Times of Israel, November 19, 2023:
A British doctor who used to work at Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical center, under which the IDF says Hamas operates a major command and control base, has confirmed that there were areas of the hospital where he could not go, or else he would be shot.
In a recent interview with the English-language channel of French broadcaster France24, the doctor, who declined to give his name for fear of endangering his colleagues in Gaza, said he had worked at Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank for three months, three years ago.
“When I was first asked to work there [at Shifa], I was told there was a part of the hospital I was not to go near, and if I did, I’d be in danger of being shot,” he was quoted as saying.
“Was it explained to you why that was?” asked journalist Irris Makler in the recorded conversation.
“No, but implicit was that it was being used for non-medical purposes,” replied the doctor.
“And did you see anything non-medical or did you obey the instruction and stay away?” the interviewer continued.
The doctor said: “I stayed away, but I saw a few dodgy-looking non-medical characters going in and out all the time. It was a ward leading to a basement. As I said, I didn’t go there; so I behaved myself.”
“They would say there could be many other reasons that you would be told not to go to a particular area of a hospital. It’s not unusual,” the journalist argued.
“Well, I was welcome everywhere else, and as I say, the doctors and nurses there were very welcoming and very kind, and the hushed tones under which this was said were consistent with all the other hushed tones with which Hamas was discussed. You know, people were genuinely fearful,” the doctor replied.
“I cannot emphasize too much the air of collective paranoia that existed there,” he continued.
The physician also reported to the journalist that if hospital staff were 10% frightened of possible Israeli airstrikes, they were 90% frightened of being persecuted by Hamas.
Separately, a journalist from Italy who spoke to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity recounted that in 2009, right after Israel’s Operation Cast Lead against Hamas, he visited Gaza’s hospitals looking to interview wounded members of Fatah — the rival Palestinian faction that Hamas violently ousted from the coastal enclave in 2007.
“Eventually, I realized that they were all at home — Fatah members were too afraid to stay in the hospital, even if they were wounded,” the journalist said.
They were afraid, that is, that they would be murdered by Hamas, whose operatives were omnipresent in the Gazan hospitals, both in the wards, and in the basements, and in the tunnels beneath.
Shifa is a very large compound. I got lost inside it, and at some point I ended up on an underground floor, and I found myself in front of two armed Hamas men in military attire, who told me to get out.”
“I got the impression they were guarding a security door that gave access to their underground infrastructure. Several Palestinian sources I spoke with later on confirmed that Hamas’s command and control center was located under Shifa Hospital and that [Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh had been hiding there throughout the duration of Operation Cast Lead.”…
“We see the presence of Hamas in all hospitals, it is a clear presence. They make cynical use of the hospitals, like here in the heart of Shifa,” Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, head of the IDF Southern Command, said on Friday.
The British doctor must have initially been sympathetic to the Palestinians, else he would not have volunteered to work in Gaza. So his condemnatory remarks about Hamas carry great weight. Upon his arrival, he was warned by medical personnel that there was “a part of the hospital I was not to go near, and if I did, I’d be in danger of being shot.” When he got lost, and ended up in the basement, he was confronted by two men in military uniform in front of a door they had clearly been guarding, who told him he had better get out, which of course he did. He later was told by medical personnel that a Hamas command-and-control center was located beneath the hospital.
Along with the caches of weapons the IDF has located inside the hospital — the many dozens of AK-47s, the piles of grenades, the pistols, the military uniforms — there are also the enormous tunnels that the IDF has uncovered, that connect directly to openings inside the hospital. And now we have this testimony of a doctor who worked at Al-Shifa, testifying to the presence of “dodgy-looking” Hamas men in the hospital, constantly moving about, and the Hamas men guarding a basement door, and the enormous fear of Hamas among the hospital staff. What more does the Western world need by way of proof that in the tunnels just underneath Al-Shifa hospital, Hamas had its headquarters?
Roelof Elzinga says
And nobody, on the left, will still not condemn these butchers.
Jack Sonnemann says
Well said!
CogitoErgoSum says
Islam is centered around the principle of taking something good and making it bad … from art and music to education and health care, from science to religion.
OLD GUY says
What this Doctor is saying about Hamas using a hospital for its headquarters follows along with Islamic terrorist using Mosque for their headquarters and weapons storage facilities. They know that if the western governments searched these facilities the media would tear them up, sacred ground you know.
Grannya says
Thank you for sharing that, my feelings too. When will people wake up and vote in governments with their eyes open.
RP says
Funny how British Muslims doctor states now describes the Fear of Hamas. Till now or not sure how long so called British doctor were working in Gaza, some have families ?? Most Muslim doctors who went to gaza and west bank to work in hospital know what is happening, but stayed silent . Wonder why? They support only Islam and progress of Islam.. Same doctor would come back to UK and wonder how well they treat non Muslims?? Just look at Scottish leader of SNP . whose family are in Gaza. Are we to understand he was not aware of Hamas. HE was ?