Israel says videos show Hamas taking hostages to Gaza's largest hospital

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Monday, November 20, 2023

A Palestinian youth rides his scooter in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank on November 7, 2023, following an overnight raid by Israeli troops amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. | ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Israel Defense Forces have released videos purporting to show Hamas hostages being transported in Gaza's largest hospital as Israel faces criticism for its recent military operations at the facility.

In a Sunday statement, the IDF shared multiple security videos showing Hamas terrorists bringing hostages to the Shifa Hospital between the hours of 10:42 and 11:01 a.m. on Oct. 7.

That day, Hamas launched a premeditated surprise attack in southern Israel. In addition to killing over 1,200, mostly civilians, the terrorists seized around 240 people as hostages. The attack prompted retaliatory Israeli airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza seeking to eliminate Hamas and rescue hostages. Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, claims that over 13,000 have been killed since the war began.

The IDF exposed the footage with assistance from the Israel Security Agency. The video purports to show Hamas transporting a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian that the group kidnapped during a surprise attack last month.

One of the videos appears to show multiple people pushing what seems to be one of the hostages through the hospital lobby. A separate video shows medical professionals wheeling another reported hostage through the corridor.

Other photos shared by the IDF and taken from security footage show what appear to be stolen IDF vehicles outside the hospital.

"These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organization used the Shifa Hospital complex on the day of the massacre as terrorist infrastructure," the IDF stated. "These findings add to previous evidence presented regarding Hamas' use of the hospital area as infrastructure for its terrorist activities in a systematic and ongoing manner."

Israeli forces commenced a targeted operation on Gaza City's largest hospital last week after informing authorities in the area that they had 12 hours to cease military operations within the hospital, which the IDF says did not happen.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said in an interview with CBS last week that Israel had intelligence suggesting that Hamas may have taken several hostages to Shifa Hospital.

While he could not provide further details about the intelligence, he stressed that Israel has "concrete evidence" that Hamas uses the Shifa Hospital for terrorist purposes.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has denied the claim militants are operating a command center at the 500-bed facility. The raid drew criticism from Palestinian rights activists, who claim it endangered civilians.

A joint United Nations humanitarian assessment team led by the World Health Organization was let in to analyze the situation after the raid. Investigators described the hospital, which is no longer in operation, as a "death zone" in a Saturday statement. Among those that remained at the hospital as of Saturday were 32 babies in critical condition, 25 health workers and 291 patients.

Also on Sunday, the IDF released a video of Col. Elad Tzuri, commander of the 7th Brigade, explaining where Israeli forces discovered the body of Cpl. Noa Marciano, 19, one of many individuals taken hostage by Hamas.

Marciano served in the IDF Combat Intelligence Collection Corps and served at Nahal Oz IDF base when Hamas attacked it on Oct. 7.

According to Tzuri, the 7th Brigade searched the area around the hospital alongside the 603rd Battalion and the ISA for weeks before finding Marciano's body. In a Sunday X post, the IDF stated that Marciano sustained non-life-threatening injuries during an IAF strike on Nov. 9, and the terrorist holding her hostage was neutralized.

"Noa was murdered by a Hamas terrorist in the Shifa Hospital," the IDF stated. "The IDF will continue to support the Marciano family and operate in every way possible to return the hostages home."

In its Sunday statement, IDF included an infographic providing further details about the locations of the bodies of Marciano and another Hamas hostage, Yehudit Weiss.

Last week, the IDF announced that it had discovered the bodies of the two hostages near the Shifa Hospital. Weiss was a mother of five who worked with kindergarten children before Hamas kidnapped her from Kibbutz Be'eri on Oct. 7.

The IDF reported that it had found Weiss' body in a structure near the hospital and that it had discovered assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in the same place where they found her body. While the IDF did not disclose the cause or time of death, it revealed Thursday that Weiss' family had been informed of their loved one's death.

"The IDF sends its heartfelt condolences to the family," the IDF said in a statement.

"The national task before our eyes is to locate the missing and return the abducted persons home," the statement continued. "The IDF is operating alongside and in full coordination with the relevant national and security institutions in order to pursue these tasks. We will not cease from the mission until it will be completed."

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman