{"id":248951,"date":"2023-11-27T12:02:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T12:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=248951"},"modified":"2023-11-24T06:37:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T06:37:10","slug":"al-shifa-hospital-hamas-tunnels-and-israeli-propaganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/11\/al-shifa-hospital-hamas-tunnels-and-israeli-propaganda\/","title":{"rendered":"Al-Shifa Hospital, Hamas\u2019 Tunnels, and Israeli Propaganda"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dead and wounded people lie in the street following the Israeli attacks on the entrance of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on 3 Nov 2023. Photo: Ali Jadallah\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

As Israel wages its propaganda war over Al-Shifa, it is simultaneously laying siege to yet another medical facility. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

21 Nov 2023 – <\/em>As the death<\/span> toll in Gaza surpasses 13,000 Palestinians, including more than 5,500 children, the Israel Defense Forces propaganda machine has sought to use Al-Shifa Hospital as its main exhibit in justifying the unjustifiable. It is clear that the Israeli strategy centers on a belief that if the IDF can convince the world that Hamas used the hospital as a base of military operations, all of the carpet bombing \u2014 the attacks on refugee camps, schools, and hospitals \u2014 will retroactively be viewed as just acts of war against a terrorist enemy.<\/p>\n

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Both Israel and the White House, including President Joe Biden personally, have staked their credibility on the claim that there is a massive smoking gun lying below Al-Shifa Hospital. The U.S. said publicly it was not relying exclusively on Israel to back up its own assertions. Leaving aside the fact that both the U.S. and Israel have track records as long as the Gaza Strip of lying about the alleged crimes of their adversaries, the key question is not whether a tunnel or rooms exist under Al-Shifa, but whether they were being used for a clear military or combat purpose by Hamas, as the U.S. and Israel have alleged.<\/p>\n

Since the October 7 raids led by Hamas in Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 845 Israeli civilians, along with some 350 soldiers and police, and saw more than 240 people taken as hostages, the IDF has placed an intense focus on Hamas\u2019s underground infrastructure. Israel\u2019s allegation that Hamas\u2019s main headquarters was housed in or under the sprawling Al-Shifa Hospital compound is not new. But the zealous focus on it is an indication that Israel wants to make it the central issue in its case to push back against critics of its indiscriminate campaign of civilian death and destruction in Gaza. Israel has sought to make Al-Shifa a Rorschach test in its narrative war, and Israel has accused journalists, the United Nations, doctors, and nurses of being part of the conspiracy to hide Hamas\u2019s use of the hospital as a military command center from the world.<\/p>\n

To date, this propaganda campaign has not gone well.<\/p>\n

After initially claiming that Al-Shifa Hospital was effectively Hamas\u2019s Pentagon \u2014 a narrative publicly bolstered<\/a> by the Biden administration \u2014 the IDF released its first round<\/a> of purported evidence, which more or less consisted of a smattering of automatic rifles, some nestled behind an MRI machine, and a conveniently placed combat vest with a Hamas logo on it. With the exception of Israel\u2019s most die-hard supporters, this effort appeared to convince almost no one of the sweeping assertions about Al-Shifa\u2019s importance to Hamas\u2019s current operations. After all, the IDF had already shown the public a slick 3D video model<\/a> purporting to be a depiction of an advanced underground command and control lair used by Hamas. So Israel\u2019s first effort at selling the case fell flat.<\/p>\n

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The IDF posted a few videos of their tour through the hospital. No tunnels, command centers, etc. to be found in any of these clips or pictures. Instead, focus is on "grab bags" of some guns and body armor scattered around, and a laptop next to CD-Rs.https:\/\/t.co\/nSYuOmP1Nk<\/a><\/p>\n

— Aric Toler (@AricToler) November 15, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n