Israel’s military releases interrogation video in bid to defend assault on Gaza hospitals

The Israeli military, in an effort to defend its devastating assaults on Gaza’s hospitals, this week released an edited interrogation video that it said bolstered its case that Hamas uses medical facilities as cover for military activity.

The Israeli military, in an effort to defend its devastating assaults on Gaza’s hospitals, this week released an edited interrogation video that it said bolstered its case that Hamas uses medical facilities as cover for military activity. In the footage, a man who is said to be a staff member of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, says he joined Hamas’ military wing in 2021, and that the organization and its ally, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, base themselves at hospitals because they believe the Israeli military will not target them there. Speaking while in Israeli detention, the man appears to be under direct or implied duress. The Geneva Conventions, a set of treaties that set humanitarian rules for war, protecting civilians and soldiers, say that images of prisoners of war (POW) should not be exposed to “public curiosity.” The International Committee of the Red Cross says that that extends to videotaped interrogations: “Even if POWs appear to make voluntary public statements or willingly participate in the recording of images, disclosure to the public remains unlawful,” because “their wellbeing depends entirely on an enemy power.” Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), which has visited some of the more than 130 Gazan medical professionals in Israeli detention, says those detained have routinely been subjected to torture – something the Israeli government denies. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have repeatedly targeted Gaza hospitals with armed drones and ground raids, alleging that Hamas uses the facilities as “command and control” centers. The military has regularly released interrogation videos with healthcare personnel detained in those raids as well as photos of small arms allegedly found at hospitals, and videos of militants operating in the vicinity of hospitals – but it has not presented conclusive evidence about a single command center located within a hospital complex. Following an Israeli raid last month, northern Gaza’s last functioning hospital – Kamal Adwan – was forced out of operation. The military claimed that it captured 240 “Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.”