IDF Arrests Senior Hamas Operatives at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza Strip
During a December 28, 2024, raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya, Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service) arrested over 240 suspected Hamas terrorists, including individuals involved in the October 7 massacre. Intelligence gathered prior to the operation revealed that hundreds of terrorists were using the hospital as a hiding spot, with senior Hamas operatives embedded within the facility.
IDF and Shin Bet investigators reported that Hamas was effectively running the hospital, with plans to escape during the raid disguised as medical personnel or patients. According to an IDF reservist directly involved, interrogations of captured terrorists consistently pointed to the hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh, as the orchestrator of Hamas activities at the site. “The hospital director was at the center of it all,” the reservist explained. “He walked around confidently, convinced he was untouchable.”
Dr. Abu Safiyeh, who other witnesses described as “strutting around like a peacock, like he was a protected bigshot” was ultimately arrested. IDF investigators confirmed he was not only aware of the terrorist activity but actively involved, serving as a senior Hamas operative.
Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Daniel Meron, stated that the raid on Kamal Adwan was triggered by “irrefutable evidence” that the facility was being used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. He emphasized that Israeli forces had taken “extraordinary measures to protect civilian life while acting on credible intelligence.”
Hamas Attempted to Escape Using Ambulances
The raid exposed Hamas’ strategy of using ambulances to smuggle operatives out of the hospital. Another IDF interrogator, recounted questioning a suspicious man posing as a wounded patient. His inconsistencies and a fake ID led to his identification as a senior Hamas commander.
“He thought he could fake his injury and escape in an ambulance,” the IDF interigator stated. “But his cast was clearly fresh, and his lies unraveled quickly.” During his interrogation, the commander, admitted that the hospital served as a Hamas base, and that his supposed injury had been staged by Dr. Abu Safiyeh.
Kamal Adwan Hospital – A Front for Hamas Operations
IDF intelligence found that Kamal Adwan Hospital, like other Gazan hospitals, wasn’t operating as a standard civilian facility. Instead, it housed operational rooms, weapon storage, and intelligence hubs for Hamas. Patients were occasionally admitted to maintain the appearance of normalcy, but entire wings of the hospital were restricted to Hamas operatives.
Weapons, explosives, millitants and hostages have all passed through this hospital. Rockets have been fired from the hospital grounds.
This pattern is not unique to Kamal Adwan Hospital. Hamas’ use of civilian infrastructure as cover for military operations has long been the norm across Gaza. Similar operations have been uncovered at other medical facilities, including Al-Shifa Hospital, Nasser Hospital, and Rantisi Children’s Hospital, all of which were used by Hamas to store weapons, coordinate attacks, and hide operatives.
To this day, the media, UN and others present these hospitals as humanitarian zones. They dispute any evidence the IDF provides. What is shown in pictures and IDF tours are denied by these same people and groups. But the evidence consistently reveals their exploitation by Hamas for military purposes.
As I have stated in previous blogs, the UN and others support terrorism as long as it is directed against Israel and Jews. If the casualy numbers were reversed there would be no uproar, as was the case on October 7, 2023 when these same people and groups justified that attack that resulted in the largest single day number of Jewish deaths since the Holocaust.
UN Corruption and Hamas Collaboration
Reports have repeatedly surfaced implicating UN agencies in direct engagement and collaboration with Hamas. Documents seized during IDF operations revealed that UN staff had coordinated with Hamas leaders under the guise of delivering humanitarian aid.
In 2023, the IDF published evidence showing that United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) facilities were used to store rockets and weapons for Hamas, with some UN employees directly participating in logistical operations for the terror group. Aid meant for the Gazan population is jointly seized and provided to support Hamas militiants and the surplus is sold on the black market to civilians to help finance Hamas’s activities and provide bribes to UN officials. This aid is intended to be distributed to the Gazan population for free. As this aid continues to get confiscated, Israel is blamed for disrupting shipments.
A former UNRWA official, now a whistleblower, stated that “Hamas essentially controls UN operations in Gaza. UN facilities are frequently used as command centers, and the UN leadership knows this but remains silent to avoid backlash and also accept bribes” This systemic corruption within the UN has allowed Hamas to exploit international aid while using UN facilities as shields against Israeli military operations.
To balance these reports, it is important to acknowledge that many UN officials continue to legitimately advocate for humanitarian aid and protection of civilians. However, the continued misuse of these facilities by Hamas undermines efforts to genuinely assist the population of Gaza.
Defining Genocide – Challenging False Accusations
Accusations of genocide against Israel have been repeatedly levied by Hamas sympathizers, many UN officials and the media at large. However, these claims misrepresent the legal definition of genocide. Genocide, as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention, refers to the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Israel’s actions in Gaza are targeted against Hamas militants and their infrastructure, not the civilian population.
Hamas, by contrast, openly calls for the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people, fitting the definition of genocide more accurately. The October 7 attack exemplifies this intent, with Hamas militants indiscriminately targeting and shooting civilians, committing rape and torture of women, executing entire families, and burning people alive in their homes. They took hundreds of hostages, killing many and mistreating the rest. Yet, international bodies frequently overlook these crimes while disproportionately condemning Israel.
To date, Israel has adhered to international law when dealing with hospitals suspected of harboring Hamas militants. Israeli forces have provided advance warnings, facilitated evacuations, and supplied aid to ensure minimal harm to civilians. Alternative medical facilities were also arranged to ensure continuity of care until the hospitals could resume full operations.
A Double Standard in Condemnation
Despite Israel’s efforts to mitigate civilian harm, the United Nations and others continue to amplify Hamas propaganda while solely condemning Israel. The silence regarding Hamas’ atrocities, including the October 7, 2023, attacks, reveals a concerning double standard. While Hamas committed horrific acts, shooting innocent people, rapes, dismemberment, burning victims alive and taking hundreds of hostages, many in the international community either downplay or deny the severity of these crimes.
The reluctance to acknowledge Hamas’ violations of international law or their systematic use of human shields perpetuates a dangerous narrative that undermines justice and accountability. While criticisms of Israeli actions should be heard, they must be weighed against the full context of Hamas’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure and its deliberate targeting of civilians. The focus on deligitimizing Israel and using the reality of a Jewish state to fuel hatred of Jews is just a modern phase of perpetuating the long and never ending history of hatred of Jews that goes back thousands of years.
Sources: Jerusalem Post, Newsweek, Harretz, National Post, John Spencer (Head of the Urban Warfare Department at the Modern War Institute, West Point)