An investigative report from the Associated Press reveals that Israel has intentionally targeted hospitals in Gaza, with no concrete evidence to support claims of military activity within these facilities. The attacks have led to severe destruction, numerous casualties, and widespread fear among medical staff and patients.
The report, based on months of investigation, includes testimonies and firsthand accounts from patients, witnesses, medical workers, and humanitarian officials. Key hospitals mentioned include Al-Awda, the Indonesian Hospital, and Kamal Adwan. The findings contradict Israel’s justification that Hamas uses these hospitals as command and control centers for planning attacks, a claim for which no direct evidence has been provided.
In January, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated that “to destroy the military infrastructure in the north, we must eliminate the philosophy of [using] hospitals.” Yet, despite these assertions, the investigation found no proof of Hamas’s presence in the targeted hospitals. The Associated Press submitted detailed accounts of these incidents to the Israeli military spokesperson’s office, which declined to comment.
Currently, Israel continues to strike hospitals in northern Gaza and has placed at least three under fire, including Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, and the Indonesian Hospital. This has raised concerns as the frequency and intensity of such attacks are rare in modern warfare, even though hospitals hold special protections under international law. Israel has reportedly raided over ten hospitals across Gaza and conducted direct attacks on them.
Israeli forces launched two separate assaults on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and released an animated video depicting it as a primary Hamas base, though without evidence to substantiate the claim. The report further details incidents where Israeli forces used bulldozers to breach hospital premises, arrested medical teams, and dismantled makeshift tents for displaced people. Patients and medical staff reportedly faced humiliating treatment, yet no evidence of militant activity was shown.
Israel claims some hospitals are linked to Hamas’s tunnel networks, but only one such tunnel entrance was displayed, reportedly leading to the ground floor of Al-Shifa Hospital. Last month, a UN investigative committee concluded that Israel executed a “coordinated policy to dismantle Gaza’s healthcare system” and described these measures as “collective punishment against Palestinians in Gaza.”
