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Hamas-Controlled Hospitals in Gaza Outed as ‘Human Shields’ Amid Israeli Ground Operations
Smoke rises as displaced Palestinians take shelter at Al Shifa hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, Nov. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Doaa Rouqa
The Hamas terrorist organization’s use of civilian hospitals as centers for storing military equipment and planning attacks has been revealed as a serious human rights violation as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) close in on Al Shifa, a major hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has long said the hospital was home to the Palestinian terror group’s main base of operations, as well as cover for the coastal enclave’s complex tunnel system and a hideout for fuel, water, food, and other supplies that were being withheld from Gaza’s civilian population.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, has denied this charge — an increasingly untenable position after this weekend, when Israel’s army took control of the areas immediately surrounding the hospital, holding territory just a block away. At the same time, gunfire emerged from the sprawling hospital complex — where battle has been ensuing — exposing it as a center for Hamas fighters.
The European Union on Sunday lambasted Hamas for using hospitals as “human shields,” calling for civilians to be allowed to leave the area of fighting.
“The EU condemns the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields by Hamas,” the EU said in a statement. “Civilians must be allowed to leave the combat zone. These hostilities are severely impacting hospitals and taking a horrific toll on civilians and medical staff.”
The statement went on to demand the immediate release of the roughly 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during their Oct. 7 massacre of southern Israeli communities. The hostages include children and elderly civilians.
Israel has presented an abundance of evidence in recent weeks detailing how Hamas has converted hospitals into operation centers and launchpads for missiles, while shielding the terror group behind the civilians using them.
Al Shifa is not the first hospital in Gaza to be the subject of controversy during the current war.
Last month, a misfired Palestinian rocket from Gaza caused a widely reported explosion near the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, according to intelligence from Israel and several Western governments. Experts agreed that Israel was not responsible, despite Hamas and several media outlets falsely blaming an Israeli air strike for causing the hospital blast.
It is expected that the IDF will take over Al Shifa in the coming days. The Israeli army has already helped to evacuate patients toward southern Gaza, including newborn infants. Much of the hospital staff has also evacuated south, with reports from Gaza saying that the hospital has lost all power and suspended operations after running out of fuel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel had offered fuel to Al Shifa, but that the terrorists had refused to receive it. Several press reports, citing Arab and Western officials, have corroborated Israeli claims that Hamas has been hoarding hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel for rockets and electricity used to power its network of underground tunnels as Gaza hospitals struggle to maintain power.
Meanwhile, Israel announced that 200 million NIS (about $52 million) would be directed to completing the fortification of hospitals around the country, where roughly half are now protected from rocket and missile fire.
Troy O. Fritzhand, who goes by Osher in Hebrew, is a Jerusalem-based journalist covering Israeli politics, culture, and technology. An immigrant from New York, Troy is an entrepreneur and Hebrew thinker who helps oversee the start-up ecosystem in Jerusalem with Made in JLM. You can learn more about him at troyfritzhand.com. He previously served as the Politics and Knesset reporter at The Jerusalem Post and has been published in Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
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French Official Tells Paper Arab Countries Will Condemn Hamas, Trying to Get Palestinian Statehood Recognized
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot speaks to the media on the day he attends the European Union Foreign Ministers council in Brussels, Belgium, July 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Arab countries will for the first time condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament early next week at a United Nations ministerial event in New York, a move meant to lure more European countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, France’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
In an exclusive interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said the move was part of a long-planned initiative between France and Saudi Arabia.
“For the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament, which will seal its definitive isolation. European countries will in turn confirm their intention to recognize the State of Palestine. Half of European countries have done so, all others are considering it,” Barrot told the JDD.
“The British Prime Minister has stated his intention to do so. Germany is considering it at a later stage. We will launch an appeal in New York for other countries to join us in order to set in motion an even more ambitious and demanding process that will culminate on September 21,” Barrot added.
On Thursday French President Emmanuel Macron announced France would formally recognize the state of Palestine at the U.N. General Assembly on September 21, drawing condemnation from the U.S. and Israel.
Earlier on Saturday Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni called it counterproductive to recognize a Palestinian state before it is established.
On Friday a German government spokesperson said there were no plans to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term.
At the upcoming United Nations event on Monday and Tuesday, France and Saudi Arabia plan to lay out a proposed post-war roadmap leading to a two-state solution covering security, reconstruction and governance, which will be compatible with the Abraham Accords negotiated by US President Trump, Barrot said.
The French minister added that in coming weeks the European Commission would take a tougher stance on Israel and demand a stop on building of any new settlement projects in the West Bank, and also an end to militarized policing of humanitarian aid distribution.
Barrot also called on fellow European countries to demand a removal of the financial blockade on the Palestinian authority so it can receive 2 billion euros he said it is owed.
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Jordan and UAE Drop Aid Into Gaza in First Airdrop in Months, Jordanian Source Says
An airplane drops humanitarian aid over Gaza as seen from northern Gaza Strip July 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates parachuted 25 tons of aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday in their first airdrop in months, a Jordanian official source said.
The official said the air drops were not a substitute for delivery by land.
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Trump Says Israel Will Have to Decide on Next Steps in Gaza, Pledges More Aid
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza, adding that he did not know what would happen after the collapse of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with the Hamas terrorist group.
Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly “hardened” up on the issue, and said the US would provide more aid to the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
“They don’t want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland.
“I know what I’d do, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that I say it. But Israel is going to have to make a decision,” he said, while also claiming, without evidence, that Hamas members were stealing food coming into Gaza and selling it.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, saying it had become clear that the Palestinian group did not want a deal.
Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending Hamas rule in the enclave.
Trump said he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down,” telling reporters: “Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it’s very bad. And it got to be to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job.”
US TO PROVIDE MORE AID, TRUMP SAYS
Trump on Sunday said the US would provide more humanitarian aid to Gaza, where concerns are mounting about the worsening hunger, but wanted other countries to participate as well. He said he would discuss the issue with von der Leyen.
“We’re giving a lot of money, a lot of food, a lot of everything,” he said. “If we weren’t there, I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it’s not like they’re eating well.”
He said he had spoken with Netanyahu and discussed a number of issues, including Iran. He said and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would also discuss Israel when they meet at Trump’s golf property in Turnberry on Monday.
Trump also noted said the United States was not acknowledged for earlier food aid for Gaza.
“No other country gave anything,” he said, calling out European countries in particular. “It makes you feel a little bad when you do that and, you know, you have other countries not giving anything… Nobody gave but us. And nobody said, Gee, thank you very much. And it would be nice to have at least a thank you.”
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