A Tale of Two Hospitals

If you want to judge a nation, look at how it treats its most vulnerable civilians. Hospitals are a good place to start.
Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, is housed in a converted British army barracks. Some 126 miles north is Israel’s Ziv Medical Center in Zefat.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, is using the civilian population as human shields. The terrorist group has placed its missiles in schools and mosques and, even more deplorably, burrowed its command center underneath the al-Shifa hospital.

Hamas‘ activities are taking place in plain sight. Just two weeks ago, The Washington Post described al-Shifa as “a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders.” These terrorist facilities are of course well known not only to the foreign journalists who interview Hamas fighters there, but also to the Israelis, who would by necessity consider such a location a legitimate target for any action against Hamas. However, the terrorist group has tried to immunize their headquarters by digging it under a hospital, leaving Israel no option but to target al-Shifa if they want to get rid of the Hamas terrorist leadership.

Hamas sees no downside in this arrangement. Knowing that Israel prioritizes protecting civilians, the terrorists can be reasonably confident that al-Shifa will not be targeted, and they can continue their murderous activities undisturbed. If the Israelis finally decide that these activities are intolerable and that to destroy Hamas they must target their headquarters, Hamas will have pictures of the quintessentially innocent martyrs — hospital patients unable to flee — to plaster across international media in their ongoing propaganda war to demonize the Jewish state.

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Serenity said:

There are concerns by those working in the hospital that Shifa is now considered a legitimate target and that attacks are imminent. It's the largest hospital in Gaza, it's at over capacity, and the situation there right now is dire as they are struggling to keep up with the sheer numbers of people requiring treatment and supplies are diminishing. It's full of civilians requiring care and hard working and dedicated health care workers who are just trying to do their job. They won't be leaving their patients and going anywhere.

If those people are considered legitimate targets then that is beyond obscene.

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donsutherland1 said:

Such an attack, if it were to occur, would very likely lead to harm to civilians that would be excessive relative to any anticipated military advantage. Therefore, under the Laws of War, the hospital would not be a legitimate target. Were it used to fire on troops, a limited section might qualify, but that isn't the case right now.

There were rumors of an phone call warning from an unlisted number being circulated via Twitter. Israel has not acknowledged such a warning. The alleged phone call could well be disinformation rather than a genuine Israeli warning. Moreover, it has now been more than 14 hours since the alleged phone call was received.

In any case, I hope that the alleged warning was not genuine and that no attack occurs.

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