The head of a Gaza hospital has admitted to being a Hamas commander and revealed how the Palestinian outfit turned the medical site in the northern part of the besieged territory into a military base. This confession is in line with Israel’s long-held claim that Hamas uses hospitals for its operations.
Ahmad Kahlot, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya refugee camp, was seen in a taped confession after his arrest during last week’s raid on the facility, The New York Post reported. In a video released by the Israeli military on Tuesday, Kahlot said he joined Hamas in 2010 and held a rank equivalent to a brigadier general. He said that about 16 hospital staffers, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, were also members of Hamas’ key military wing.
Hamas in their own words:Ahmad Kahalot—Senior Hamas Member since 2010 and director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalya in northern Gaza admits that Hamas has used hospitals as military facilities under their control.
Video credit: ISA Spokesperson pic.twitter.com/QGLclR94at
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 19, 2023
Israeli forces breached the Kamal Adwan Hospital last week and arrested 90 suspected Hamas members inside the medical facility. World Health Organization on Monday said that the hospital is no longer functioning and that all its patients had been evacuated.
US media reports said the medical facility under Kahalot’s care had been turned into an elaborate military hub where up to 100 Hamas members had been holed up for days before moving to a different location. The Hamas commander went as far as slamming leaders of the Palestinian outfit as “cowards. “They left us out in the open while they have gone into hiding,” he said. “The people are the ones who got screwed.
This report comes as UN officials have voiced anger and disbelief about the situation in Gaza hospitals, where injured people do not have basic supplies and children recovering from amputations are being killed in the ongoing conflict. Nearly three-quarters of Gaza’s hospitals, or 27 of 36, are out of action due to damage in attacks, Israeli raids and lack of fuel and staff, according to WHO. Those still open are only partly functional and under growing pressure due to both strikes and growing numbers of sick and injured patients arriving.
(With agency inputs)
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