Al Jazeera questions Pentagon on al-Shifa claims
Our Washington, DC, correspondent Patty Culhane has just asked Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh about the US’s assessment that Hamas uses al-Shifa Hospital and other hospitals in Gaza to conduct operations.
Here’s a transcript of the exchange:
Culhane: You keep talking about the intelligence in the past tense: that you believe, the intelligence believes, that Hamas has used hospitals. Do you have intelligence that they currently are?
Singh: I have only the intelligence that I read out … on Tuesday. Past tense, present tense.
I don’t want to parse out words here, but we know that Hamas has been using the hospital, the al-Shifa Hospital and other hospitals in Gaza.
I’m not going to get into more specifics on, you know, what they’re doing now, [their] whereabouts, all of that. We know that the [Israeli army] has taken control of al-Shifa Hospital. So I don’t have more to share with you on that front.
Culhane: But it matters because under international law you have to have proof that a combatant is currently right there in that moment in the hospital, in order to strike.
Singh: Yeah, again, when we read out the downgraded material, we felt very confident that Hamas was using that hospital to conduct its operations. And as you saw an open source, there have been evidence of that, that the [Israeli army] is showing now.
Culhane: And that’s what I wanted to ask you: How would you characterise the video the [Israeli army] released? They said it’s irrefutable proof that Hamas was there: Does the US agree?
Singh: I don’t think we’re disputing that Hamas was using al-Shifa Hospital. I mean, I read that out on Tuesday. I said very specifically: al-Shifa is one of many hospitals in Gaza that Hamas uses to operate out of and to conduct their operations out of, so I’ll let the [Israeli army] speak to their broader assessment.
Culhane: So you’re saying that the video of a blurred laptop, flak jacket, a handful of rifles – that that backs up what you’ve been saying that Hamas is operating in the hospital?
Singh: I’m happy to repeat what I said on Tuesday … and that I will reiterate again today, is that Hamas uses – al-Shifa being one of them – hospitals in Gaza to conduct and to operate out of and to further execute on terrorist actions within Gaza.
Culhane: Is there video to back that up?
Singh: I’m just gonna leave it at that.
