Aid groups knew Hamas used hospitals for terror, documents prove

They are not “impartial humanitarian actors” when accusing Israel of breaking international law for hitting medical facilities as military targets, says NGO Monitor.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Global aid groups were aware that Hamas controlled Gaza’s hospitals long before the current war, according to documents obtained and translated by NGO Monitor.

The watchdog released two declassified reports Wednesday from Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security, dated February and March 2020.

The papers detail Hamas’ strategy of embedding fighters, leaders, and military infrastructure in hospitals and other medical facilities.

The documents described hospitals as “gathering places for many commanders of the movement [Hamas] and the government in times of escalation” with Israel.

They also noted Hamas maintains offices and secure communications inside every hospital.

One report warned that “Doctors Without Borders (MSF) France chose the only room in Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital that has a (safe) communication landline which belongs to the ‘positive,’” a euphemism for Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, according to NGO Monitor.

NGO Monitor said the records show international organizations knew Hamas was using hospitals but still accused Israel of violating international law when it targeted them.

One document cited the International Committee of the Red Cross as asking, in a 25-page long questionnaire sent to Ministry of Health (MoH) facilities, about “the presence of tunnels, weapons or explosives inside hospitals.”

Medical care facilities are legally designated as protected spaces, explicitly safeguarded from military use. Turning them into hiding places for fighters, command and control stations, and weapons caches make them legitimate military targets, according to international law.

The Arabic-language reports listed more than a dozen NGOs and international agencies that NGO Monitor said submitted to Hamas’ demands, including allowing the Ministry of Health to pre-vet all personnel.

While Hamas wanted to exploit their presence for propaganda purposes, the documents showed that it was very concerned that “hostile parties” among them may gather intelligence against the group while treating patients.

To prevent this, the terrorists tightly controlled the aid organizations’ movements after they arrived, the documents said.

One directive stated that medical delegations could only access certain departments and were barred from areas where Hamas leaders were present.

Another required Hamas security personnel to accompany aid groups and embed Hamas medical staff in their teams, “whether the delegations work in hospitals or their own locations.”

“This arrangement is fundamentally inconsistent with the principle of medical neutrality in Gaza and … raises serious ethical concerns,” NGO Monitor concluded. “Many continue to present themselves as impartial humanitarian actors while concealing the reality of their complicity with Hamas’ security apparatus.”

“They fail to disclose Hamas’ cynical use and violation of humanitarian spaces,” the NPO continued, “nor do they report the conditions imposed upon them and the reasons behind said policy.

“This lack of transparency not only violates the core principles regarding the independence and neutrality of humanitarian aid, but also renders these organizations morally compromised as yet another party in Hamas’ exploitation of medical spaces.”