The US says Hamas operates from hospitals in Gaza and endorses Israel’s allegations

The United States has intelligence showing that Hamas has used hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Shifa, as command centers and ammunition depots, a National Security Council spokesman said on Tuesday.

John Kirby, the spokesman, said intelligence gathered from American sources supported Israel’s claim that Hamas was operating from hospitals, which Mr. Kirby said amounted to a war crime.

Mr. Kirby declined to provide details about the U.S. intelligence, but he made clear that it goes beyond the information collected by Israeli intelligence. “It comes from a variety of intelligence methods – our own, our own,” he said, adding that the intelligence classification had been downgraded so it could be shared publicly.

“I can confirm for you that we have information that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are using some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Shifa, and tunnels beneath them, to conceal and support their military operations and to hold hostages.” Kirby told reporters from Air Force One as President Biden headed to San Francisco for a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders.

“Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – JID – members operate a command and control hub from Al-Shifa in Gaza City,” he added. “They have weapons stored there and they are prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against that facility.”

The US intelligence revelation comes as Israel faces harsh international criticism for attacks on and around hospitals as it wages a war against Hamas in the wake of the armed group’s terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7. Israel says more than 1,200 people were killed in the attacks and 239 others are still being held hostage.

During Israel’s subsequent military campaign to root out Hamas, Israel has repeatedly said its army seeks to prevent casualties among civilians, including patients and doctors in hospitals. But they have insisted that Hamas use such people as human shields.

Mr. Kirby said the United States does not support aerial attacks on hospitals, despite what he said was Hamas’s confirmed use of the facilities.

“We are not in favor of bombing a hospital from the air,” he said. “And we don’t want to see a shootout in a hospital where innocent people, helpless people and sick people are simply trying to get the medical care they deserve, and not get caught in the crossfire. Hospitals and patients must be protected.”

He called those concerns an “additional burden” for Israel in its military campaign against Hamas.

Palestinian officials and doctors at Al-Shifa have denied that the hospital has been used by Hamas. But Mr Kirby said newly revealed US intelligence supported Israel’s arguments as the army approached the hospital.

“We have information confirming that Hamas is using that specific hospital as a command and control hub and probably for storing weapons underneath,” he said. “That’s a war crime.”