US intel confident terrorists used Gaza's largest hospital in war against Israel: Report
The American intelligence report offers support for Israel's assertions that terrorists used the facility.
The United States is reportedly "confident" that Palestinian terror groups used the largest hospital in Gaza to store command infrastructure and hold at least some of the people taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad used Al Shifa Hospital, according to an intelligence report released Tuesday that was shared with The Associated Press by a U.S. official.
Israel entered Al Shifa in November over outcries from international human rights organizations and other groups. Israel released surveillance videos from the hospital later that month showing hostages inside the hospital.
The American intelligence report offers support for Israel's assertions that terrorists used the facility but it does not fully provide evidence for claims that the hospital was used as the central node for terror activities, according to the wire service.
"The U.S. Intelligence Community is confident in its judgment on this topic and has independently corroborated information on HAMAS and PIJ’s use of the hospital complex for a variety of purposes related to its campaign against Israel," the report states.
U.S. intelligence also believes that the terror groups "used the al-Shifa hospital complex and sites beneath it to house command infrastructure, exercise certain command and control activities, store some weapons, and hold at least a few hostages," per the report.