Islamic Jihad Operative Admits Terrorists Use All Gaza Hospitals For Military Purposes

In a stunning admission, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said the terrorist organization had orchestrated the persistent narrative that is was Israel that attacked the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in October 2023, when it was actually a terrorist missile that was responsible for hundreds of deaths. 

A spokesman for the political wing of the group allied with the Iran-supported Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2005, Tarek Abu Shaluf was captured by Israeli forces along with some 500 other terrorists last month at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza. A video has been released of his questioning by an off-camera Israeli official speaking in Arabic. 

In a video released on April 8, Shaluf told the interrogator of Israel’s military Intelligence Directorate Unit 504 it was a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad that detonated in the courtyard of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital and killed between 100 to 300 people. His admission dovetails with Israeli intelligence estimates that were released soon after the blast, but were widely disputed in Arab and Western media reports. Shaluf told the interrogator that the devastation was caused by “a local rocket. We said it was Israeli.” Israel has refuted the claim from the onset, bolstered by U.S. intelligence estimates.

Israel accused Shaluf’s group of firing the rocket that fell short and exploded at the hospital on October 17, 2023. “To erase this story, the movement (Islamic Jihad) made some moves — it made up a story that the rocket belonged to the occupation (Israel) and that the target was the [hospital] building,” Shalaf said. Hamas officials falsely blamed Israel, and international media outlets widely repeated the claim. 

When Shaluf was asked which hospitals Islamic Jihad and Hamas use in Gaza, he said, “All of the hospitals.” Explaining why the terrorists utilize hospitals, Shaluf said, “Because there is internet there 24 hours, there is electricity 24 hours.” He explained that by using only one or two rooms in each war, the terrorists need not close a department.

According to the IDF, Shaluf worked within the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and “advanced acts of incitement and propaganda from within the Shifa hospital, and testified to the use of the compound and medical equipment for terror purposes.”

Shaluf also admitted that ambulances are used by the terrorists at the hospitals. According to international law, a medical facility is a protected site in conflict but loses that status if used for military activity. Despite evidence offered by Israel that Hamas and Islamic Jihad use medical  facilities as cover for terror and plunder humanitarian aid, Hamas denies the charges. 

In March, Israeli Defense Forces captured 900+ suspects. Of these, 500 were shown to be terrorists. The IDF killed more than 200 terrorists, including leading members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.  Israeli forces found underground bunkers and passages, as well as evidence that Israeli hostages held by the terrorists at the hospital.