Hamas: “Israel’s” Claim About Captives Aimed at Covering Up Its “Security, Military Failure”

By Staff, Agencies

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has dismissed the “Israeli” entity’s allegation about Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital being used by the movement to keep the captives it captured during a surprise operation against the regime last month.

The movement's statement came after earlier on Sunday, “Israeli” military spokesperson Daniel Hagari played two videos, which he claimed showed several captives being brought to the hospital after the October 7 Operation al-Aqsa Flood by Palestinian resistance groups that led to the capture of hundreds of “Israeli” soldiers and settlers.

“There is nothing new in what the Zionist military spokesman said except an attempt to cover up their lies and [to corroborate] their claim that Hamas has used al-Shifa Hospital as a military headquarters for command and control,” the movement said.

Hamas added that the health condition of injured “Israeli” captives is constantly monitored and treatment is provided to them in hospitals, after which they return “to their places of detention”.

The movement said it only took the captives to the hospital "because some of them were wounded in airstrikes" by the “Israeli” entity, which also killed a number of captives as the movement's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, had already announced.

The brigades' spokesman, Abu Obaida, said in early November that more than 60 “Israeli” captives in the besieged Gaza Strip were lost due to the regime's incessant airstrikes against the blockaded territory. He added that the bodies of 23 captives were also trapped under the rubble of the buildings and structures that were destroyed by the “Israeli” strikes.

Elsewhere in its Sunday statement, Hamas said, "We have released images of all that and the [‘Israeli’] army spokesman is acting as if he has discovered something incredible."

The “Israeli” entity started its war on Gaza on October 7 after resistance groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Flood in response to the regime’s intensified crimes against Palestinians.

Since then the Palestinian death toll from “Israeli” strikes has climbed to 13,000, including 5,000 children. More than 30,000 people have been also injured in the regime’s military onslaught.

The entity has also blocked supply of water, food, electricity, and medicines to Gaza, plunging the coastal area into a humanitarian crisis. The regime has been defying global calls for a ceasefire as well.

Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, has taken the brunt of the “Israeli” entity’s attacks on healthcare targets since the beginning of the war.

"We affirm that the occupation is not qualified to investigate and issue judgments. It is the aggressor party and has committed war crimes against hospitals," Hamas noted, referring to the regime knocking dozens of Gaza's hospitals out of service since the onset of the war.

Hamas added, "We have repeatedly called for the formation of an international committee to investigate the occupation’s lies about the hospitals, which the Nazi occupation has turned into military barracks after emptying them of patients and medical staff by force of arms and threats."