In an elaborate ploy during the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza Israel portrayed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex as a command and control center falsely alleging that Hamas and Al-Qassam Brigades were leading the battle from its corridors storing weapons and missiles and holding Israeli prisoners.
In one of the vile propaganda plans Israel systematically and methodically executed this campaign to convince the world of its terrorist plan which destroyed large parts of Gaza City and its north before invading the hospital.
American green light
Behind Israel stands America claiming to be the primary advocate for democracy and human rights in the region adopting Israel’s false narrative without utilizing its resources to respond to the calls from the Ministry of Health and officials in Gaza. The calls urged for specialized international teams to visit the Al-Shifa Hospital and verify Israel’s malicious claims.
For days the Ministry of Health Hamas and all Palestinian factions called on the United Nations and international organizations to be present in the targeted and threatened hospitals especially Al-Shifa Hospital. The goal was to reveal the truth and assume responsibility in protecting these hospitals and prevent the occupation army and government from falsifying facts. Unfortunately no one responded to these pleas.
Ismail Al-Thawabteh the Director-General of the Government Media Office in Gaza stated “We appealed to all international organizations and the Red Cross days ago to rescue the wounded and medical teams at Al-Shifa Complex but they refused to respond and aligned with the occupation’s goals bearing part of the responsibility for what is happening.”
Hours before the actual invasion which took place early Wednesday the White House reiterated statements from the Israeli army spokesman claiming that intelligence confirmed Hamas and Al-Qassam Brigades were using the hospital’s compound for military purposes. This provided a new and clear green light for the enemy’s tanks to continue their heinous crime of storming the hospital.
Restoring the image of a defeated army
The helpless Israeli army which suffered its severest blow in history on October 7 attempts to restore its tarnished image. This image was exposed by cameras mounted on the heads of resistance fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades documenting the Palestinian fighters’ control of Israeli positions surrounding the Gaza Strip and finishing off Gaza Division in a few hours.
Similar to what the U.S. war machine did during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 making the Battle of Baghdad Airport an image of its victory the occupation seeks to make the Al-Shifa Hospital battle terrorizing its staff and patients besieging it and destroying its corridors an image of its triumph. It presents this to its people from the heart of Gaza; in the hope they believe they have a strong army capable of reaching any place and achieving its goals.
As the war enters its 41st day the Israeli massive arsenal and the destructive American missiles that fell by hundreds of tons on the heads of the innocent in Gaza failed to achieve any of the declared occupation goals. The army once again broke before the steadfast resistance exposing the vulnerability of its tanks which the fighters blew up one after another as if they were playing a mobile game.
According to observers : It is worth noting that the timing of the Al-Shifa Hospital invasion came after simultaneous talks about nearing a partial deal for a prisoner exchange. The occupation may present what it declares as an “achievement” linking it to its firm stances and previous statements of refusing exchanges or fuel entry without the unconditional release of prisoners according to analysts.
Political adolescence
Izzat Al-Resheq a member of Hamas’s political bureau commented on the tank invasion of the hospital saying that if Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his defeated army consider storming the Al-Shifa Hospital an achievement it is political adolescence and an exposed play that no one will believe. Al-Shifa Hospital is a medical civilian facility not a military barracks he affirmed.
He affirmed that the U.S. president is a full partner in the genocidal war carried out by the Israeli occupation in Gaza and the White House gave the green light for the occupation to invade Al-Shifa Hospital.
Flagrant lies
Media consultant writer and analyst in European and international affairs Hossam Shaker emphasized that since the beginning of the aggression the occupation systematically spreads daily lies for the purpose of deception using fabricated visual auditory and theatrical scenarios to promote a misleading narrative about the facts.
Speaking exclusively to the Palestinian Information Center Shaker stated “This has been the constant approach of the (Israeli) occupation bringing more (lies) with each round. Each new claim is scrutinized and criticized dismantling these allegations immediately then comes more lies followed by further disintegration. This is the occupation’s continuous defensive strategy because it ensures complicity with it at the political and media levels and due to the weakness of investigative journalism by mainstream media.”
He added “It is enough to realize that the occupation made Al-Shifa Hospital the center of its propaganda to show that it will be forced to fabricate about the hospital in a way that justifies all the genocide crimes it committed. However this will certainly not be easy for those who control the place and manipulate it as they wish creating woven scenes or fabrications as seen in other places in the Strip. Despite this the occupation continues to make continuous defensive mistakes that will make fabrications subject to criticism and scrutiny by relevant investigative journalism and others.”
Al-Shifa: A central target
Al-Shifa Hospital is the largest medical complex in the Strip housing three specialized hospitals and serving the residents of Gaza and the northern region before and during the war.
During the war on Gaza Al-Shifa Complex played a fundamental role receiving the wounded and conducting surgical operations. It also employs about 25% of all workers in the Strip’s hospitals.
The hospital served as a shelter for around 60000 displaced people from their homes in Gaza City and its north due to bombardment and massacres before thousands left under the pressure of the random shelling of the hospital and its siege by tanks. Around 7000 displaced people in addition to about 650 patients and hundreds of medical and administrative staff remain in the hospital.
Will the play of the hospital end with the occupation gaining the illusory victory image it desires or will it be a station on the path of other genocide crimes? The occupation attempts to eliminate what remains of our people and displace the displaced under the very eyes of the civilized world?
