Hamas fired a rocket at Israeli soldiers in Khan Yunis from within the southern Gaza city’s Nasser Hospital, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.
The rocket attack took place “earlier this week” and was detected by military systems, the army said in a statement.
“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically operates in Gaza’s hospitals and nearby areas, using civilians as human shields and exploiting hospital infrastructure including electricity and water,” the military said.
During the ongoing war, Israel has uncovered extensive use of Gaza’s hospitals and clinics by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.
In December, Ahmed Kahlot, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, confirmed to Israeli interrogators that he and other staff were Hamas operatives.
During the interrogation, Kahlot described how Hamas used hospitals and ambulances to hide operatives, launch military activity, transport members of terrorist squads and even deliver a kidnapped Israeli soldier.
Other Gazans have told Israeli interrogators they were embedded in the Palestinian Red Crescent Society to use hospitals as a base for attacks.
Hamas made extensive use of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Strip’s largest medical center. Hamas fired rockets from its compound, hid hostages in the bowels of the building, tortured collaborators there, and dug tunnels connecting Shifa to nearby sites. Israel also released a recording of a phone call confirming that Hamas stored at least a half-million liters of fuel underneath the compound.
