IDF Strikes Hospital

According to many, Israel struck a hospital in Gaza. We read about it in a report from The Times Of Israel:

The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza City early Sunday, after telling staff and patients to evacuate ahead of the overnight attack, one of a series of strikes that Israel said was targeting Hamas operational centers.

According to the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency, the strike targeted a Hamas command center embedded within the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.

The IDF reported no victims from the attack:

No casualties were reported in the hospital strike, with Israel issuing a warning to evacuate the facility before the attack.

The IDF noted that another target including the hospital were being used by Hamas:

The IDF and Shin Bet said Hamas used both compounds — at the hospital and in Deir al-Balah — to plan and carry out attacks against troops and Israeli civilians.

And the IDF did all they could to make sure there were no civilian casualties while noting that Hamas was intentionally using the hospital for a terror base:

In both strikes, the military said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm, including using “precision munitions” and aerial surveillance. At the hospital, the IDF also provided an early warning to civilians in the area.

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, while brutally exploiting civilian buildings and the civilian population as human shields for terrorist operations,” the army said, calling on the terror group to cease using medical facilities as cover.

Those in charge of the hospital blame Israel for not giving them time to evacuate, something that I highly doubt was the case since these officials knew that Hamas was there all the time:

Medics at Al-Ahli said two Israeli missiles had hit a building at the medical center overnight, destroying the emergency and reception department and damaging other structures.

Hospital officials evacuated the patients from the building after one person said he had received a warning call from someone who identified himself with Israeli security forces shortly before the attack took place.

The Baptist Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, which oversees the hospital, said in a statement that the IDF had ordered all patients, employees and displaced people to evacuate the premises only 20 minutes before the attack.

Hamas officials are crying loudly about the action that has made the facility unusable when they know full well that they put the hospital in danger in the first place. I’m certainly not happy about that, but it should have never been used by Hamas in the first place. International critics are all pointing fingers at Israel when they should be pointing at Hamas for putting these patients in harms way. While I know that the terrorists are to blame I highly doubt that Hamas will get scolded at all.

Hamas Is Violating International Law

Again, if anyone is willing to do their homework they will see that Israel was well in their rights to hit the hospital as we learn in an article on the Telegram feed of Amir Tsarfati:

Conducting such military operations in war time, is very grave matter. But what does int’l law say about this, and when do hospitals become legitimate military targets?

Hospitals should get special treatment, but there are exceptions:

Under International Humanitarian Law, it is a foundational principle that hospitals receive special protected status. See for example, Art. 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Art. 8 of the Rome Statute, as well as customary int’l law.

However, the laws of armed conflict are also pragmatic enough to recognize there are exceptional circumstances in times of war, in which hospitals may lose such special status.

In short, this protection ceases if hospitals are “used to commit hostile acts” or for military purposes.

See specifically Art. 8(2) of the Rome Statute, Art. 19 of the 4th Geneva Convention or Art. 11 of the 2nd Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.

So Hamas violated international law after all regardless of what they say or anyone else says for that matter. The IDF did make sure that Hamas was using the hospital for a terrorist base before they acted:

In this case, intelligence indicated the Al Ahli hospital compound was being used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, therefore causing the hospital to lose its protected status and turning it into a legitimate military target.

And this pattern was seen all throughout the war if anyone is willing to look and listen:

We know, as an indispensable fact now, that Hamas systematically embeds their operations and terrorist fighters in hospitals, using civilians as human shields and hospitals as their command centers.

But Israel still needs to act with caution, which they did:

However, merely because Hamas has seized hospitals as its own personal launching pads, does not provide carte blanche for Israel to conduct military operations. Under humanitarian law, Israel must still abide by fundamental rules such as distinction, proportionality and precaution. In each case, it has acted in accordance with its obligation. 

Israel also took ample precaution, including providing advanced warning and helping facilitate the evacuation of civilians, staff and patients.

The IDF also used precision weapons, in order to mitigate any potential harm to civilians or to the hospital compound.

The contrast between Hamas and Israel are stark:

Quite simply, Israel has gone to unprecedented lengths to comply with its obligations pursuant to the law of armed conflict, whereas Hamas is doing everything possible in order to violate those laws and maximize casualties.

It should also be noted that Al Ahli is the same hospital that on October 17th, 2023, Islamic Jihad fired a missile and then accused Israel for it - which the int’l community and press immediately rushed to blindly parrot.

As of this podcast, an Internet search shows pages and pages of Israel hitting a hospital just like the 10/1/23 incident referenced above with only a few saying that the IDF hit a Hamas command center. The article ends exactly the way it should pointing out that we should be angry at Hamas and not Israel:

Those who truly care about the wellbeing of civilians in Gaza, and who are rightfully aghast at the scenes coming out of Al Alhi Hospital would be well advised to direct their outrage at Hamas, which continues to unconscionably and illegally turn hospitals into their personal control and command centers and severely risk the lives of innocent civilians.

Amen to that!