USA agrees with Israel
Washington also considers Al-Shifa Hospital to be Hamas headquarters
November 14, 2023, 10:01 p.m
There has been heavy fighting for days in the area around the largest clinic in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army accuses Hamas of having set up its military headquarters under Al-Shifa Hospital. The USA now also agrees with this assessment.
The US government has endorsed Israel’s claim that the Islamist Hamas has set up a command center on the grounds of Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Hamas and the Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad operated a “command and control hub from al-Shifa in the city of Gaza,” U.S. National Security Council communications director John Kirby told reporters.
“They have weapons stored there and they are prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against the facility,” Kirby said aboard the presidential plane Air Force One. He spoke of a “war crime.” According to Kirby, the assessment of the use of the hospital as a Hamas command center is based on the USA’s own findings. The Israeli army accuses Hamas of building its military headquarters in tunnels under Al-Shifa Hospital. Hamas rejects this.
There has been heavy fighting for days in the area around the largest clinic in the Gaza Strip. According to the UN, at least 2,300 people – patients, employees and refugees – are stuck on the hospital premises. US President Joe Biden called on Israel on Monday to show consideration for the hospital during the fighting in the Gaza Strip: “The hospital must be protected.”
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called for a “safe evacuation” of patients from hospitals in the Gaza Strip. These should be done before an “independent” and “respected” organization. Miller said the Israeli government agreed, but the question was whether Hamas would let the patients go or continue to use them as “human shields.”