Hamas turns hospitals into weapons of war
Parallel to the images from Gaza's Nasser Hospital is the tragic fact that Hamas uses civilians as human shields and journalists as agents.
By Fiamma Nirenstein
JNS
Aug 26, 2025
The journalists killed in Israeli strikes on
Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on August 25, 2025 The Israeli army has clear rules of
engagement—rules that are the very opposite of those followed by Hamas
and its apologists. The IDF does not release information or comments
until facts are fully verified. That restraint, however, often works to
Israel’s disadvantage. While Jerusalem waits for evidence, those who are
quick to condemn win the propaganda war.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement
on Monday expressing its deep regret for the inadvertent killing of
civilians in back-to-back IDF airstrikes in Gaza, including several
journalists and health workers, at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis,
saying, “Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff and all
civilians. The military authorities are conducting a thorough
investigation.”
We have seen this pattern before. When
children in Gaza were reported as starving, it later emerged they were
sick. When casualties were blamed on Israel, it turned out Hamas had
caused the deaths.
Even the missile
that killed dozens outside a hospital in Gaza more than a year ago was
ultimately proven to be Palestinian, not Israeli. Yet none of that
mattered. The entrenched antisemitic narrative had already cemented
itself.
What is beyond dispute is how Hamas has
systematically weaponized hospitals since the war began. A few weeks
ago, 12 survivors of a Hamas attack on humanitarian workers were dragged
to a Gaza hospital gate—only to be left outside until they died.
On the fourth floor of Nasser Hospital, a
man with a towel over his head to hide his camera was caught filming
Israeli troop movements, supplying Hamas with vital intelligence.
For Hamas, hospitals have never been
sanctuaries of healing. They are underground command centers, weapons
depots, staging grounds and hiding places for hostages. Ambulances are
used to ferry terrorists. Wards are used to treat fighters. And
civilians—including the sick—are deliberately turned into human shields.
This is the simple equation the world
refuses to face: in Hamas’s Gaza, “civilian” equals human shield and
“journalist” too often equals Hamas operative.
The same cynical disregard for human life
was on display when Hamas executed four Gazans in the streets, branding
them “traitors.” Their method? Kicking, torture and bullets.
The link between these stories is clear.
As the assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar himself admitted, the
jihad requires as many dead civilians as possible.
Israel, unlike Hamas, is a democracy. It
takes responsibility for its actions. When it errs, it acknowledges its
mistake and apologizes. That is why its word is worth heeding—and why
Hamas’s word is not. For Hamas, there is only one “truth”: the victory
of jihad at any cost.
It is high time the world recognized this reality.
The Israeli army has clear rules of engagement—rules that are the very opposite of those followed by Hamas and its apologists. The IDF does not release information or comments until facts are fully verified. That restraint, however, often works to Israel’s disadvantage. While Jerusalem waits for evidence, those who are quick to condemn win the propaganda war.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement on Monday expressing its deep regret for the inadvertent killing of civilians in back-to-back IDF airstrikes in Gaza, including several journalists and health workers, at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, saying, “Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians. The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation.”
We have seen this pattern before. When children in Gaza were reported as starving, it later emerged they were sick. When casualties were blamed on Israel, it turned out Hamas had caused the deaths.
Even the missile that killed dozens outside a hospital in Gaza more than a year ago was ultimately proven to be Palestinian, not Israeli. Yet none of that mattered. The entrenched antisemitic narrative had already cemented itself.
What is beyond dispute is how Hamas has systematically weaponized hospitals since the war began. A few weeks ago, 12 survivors of a Hamas attack on humanitarian workers were dragged to a Gaza hospital gate—only to be left outside until they died.
On the fourth floor of Nasser Hospital, a man with a towel over his head to hide his camera was caught filming Israeli troop movements, supplying Hamas with vital intelligence.
For Hamas, hospitals have never been sanctuaries of healing. They are underground command centers, weapons depots, staging grounds and hiding places for hostages. Ambulances are used to ferry terrorists. Wards are used to treat fighters. And civilians—including the sick—are deliberately turned into human shields.
This is the simple equation the world refuses to face: in Hamas’s Gaza, “civilian” equals human shield and “journalist” too often equals Hamas operative.
The same cynical disregard for human life was on display when Hamas executed four Gazans in the streets, branding them “traitors.” Their method? Kicking, torture and bullets.
The link between these stories is clear. As the assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar himself admitted, the jihad requires as many dead civilians as possible.
Israel, unlike Hamas, is a democracy. It takes responsibility for its actions. When it errs, it acknowledges its mistake and apologizes. That is why its word is worth heeding—and why Hamas’s word is not. For Hamas, there is only one “truth”: the victory of jihad at any cost.
It is high time the world recognized this reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment