The Israel Defense Forces released on Friday a recording of a call in which a Gaza health official confirms that Hamas is hoarding fuel and has stored more than half a million liters (over 132,000 gallons) under Shifa Hospital.
“Hamas controls the diesel,” the health official says in the recording.
“Both of us know what is under the hospitals,” an IDF officer responds.
“My friend, let’s not talk about Shifa. May God curse Shifa, the health official replies.
The officer then notes that Israel could provide fuel for Shifa, “but if I bring [fuel] to the hospital right now, they [Hamas] will take it. Don’t you agree with me?”
“My friend, you are completely right,” says the health official.
The Palestinian then suggests that Hamas has stashed away more than 1 million liters of fuel underground.
“The call confirms that Hamas controls the energy and fuel resources in the Gaza Strip and chooses to direct them for terrorism,” the IDF said in a statement. “Moreover, if fuel is allowed to enter the Gaza Strip, Hamas plans to seize those resources.
“The IDF will continue to expose information proving that Hamas uses the resources of the civilian population of Gaza for terrorism,” added the military.
The IDF on Wednesday also revealed an intercepted call between Hamas commanders in the Gaza Strip showing that the terror group is stealing fuel from hospitals in the enclave.
The Shifa Hospital, located in the North Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, has 570 beds and is the Strip’s largest medical center.
Hamas has systematically turned hospitals in the Gaza Strip into command centers and hideouts, with the terrorist group’s main nerve center located underneath Shifa.
According to IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military is “affixing a red flag” to the world about Hamas’s war crime of using hospitals in Gaza as human shields, and revealed intelligence information to that end.
“Hamas has turned hospitals into command-and-control centers, and hideouts for terrorists and commanders,” he stated. “According to intelligence in our hands, there is fuel in hospitals in Gaza, and Hamas is using it for its terror infrastructure.”
The IDF shared this information and more with intelligence agencies from allied countries, Hagari said.