Israel shares October 7 CCTV footage of kidnapped hostages at Gaza hospital (WATCH)
Israel’s military has released security camera footage it said showed hostages being brought into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Al-Shifa Hospital has become a focal point for Israel’s subsequent military operations in the Gaza Strip, with the army repeatedly saying Hamas uses it as a base, a claim the military has been under pressure to back up.
Israel has stepped up its claims of Hamas terrorists using the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, as their base, saying that a captive soldier was executed at the site and two foreign hostages held.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a video posted on X that the two hostages—a civilian from Thailand and a Nepalese—were abducted from Israel on October 7 during Hamas' raid and brought to the Al-Shifa hospital. The IDF stated in the X post that "one of the hostages is injured and is being carried on a hospital bed, and the other is walking."
According to the Israel Defence Forces, its soldiers conducted operations inside the Gaza Strip's key Hamas officials' homes on Sunday. During their search, they discovered around 35 tunnel holes, seven missile launchers, and several weapon and ammo caches.
"The residences-turned terrorist strongholds were embedded within civilian buildings in the Rimal neighborhood. This is yet another instance of Hamas’ disregard for civilian lives," the IDF said in a X post, adding the its troops also eliminated numerous terrorists during the operation.
According to video from security cameras, Israel claimed that the facility was utilised as a "terrorist infrastructure" by Hamas militants.
A 55-meter tunnel was found by Israeli soldiers during a "intelligence-based operation" 10 metres below the Al-Shifa hospital complex, according to another video. The IDF claimed in an X post that the tunnel's discovery validated their allegation that Hamas has been utilising hospital patients and Gazan citizens as "human shields".
The World Health Organization (WHO) sent a team to Al-Shifa hospital on Sunday to evacuate at least 30 premature babies ahead of their transfer to healthcare facilities in Egypt, Hamas's health ministry said. Meanwhile, more than 250 patients with severe wounds and other urgent conditions reportedly remained stranded in the hospital complex.