The White House and the Pentagon said Tuesday that Hamas is storing weapons and operating a command center from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
“Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad use some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al-Shifa and tunnels underneath them, to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages,” John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, told reporters traveling with the president.
The remarks echo claims made by Israel that there's a Hamas command center underneath Al-Shifa, which is the largest hospital in the enclave. Palestinian hospital officials and Hamas have rejected the claims.
The Pentagon also said the US has newly declassified intelligence that claims to show that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were using hospitals — including Al-Shifa — as a “way to conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages."
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh declined multiple times to expand on how the US came to have that assessment, but said there are "multiple agencies that collect and assess and analyze intelligence."
Kirby also cited a “variety” of intelligence sourcing to back up the assertion that Al-Shifa Hospital is being used by Hamas, though he wouldn’t provide further details.
Still, Kirby said the US has been clear that it does not support Israel bombing medical facilities from above.
“We do not support striking a hospital from the air,” Kirby said, adding the US also does not want “firefights” where innocent people seeking medical care are caught in the crossfire.
“This just points out how challenging the military operation is because Hamas has deeply embedded itself within the civilian population,” Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One, saying it added an “extra burden” on Israel to protect civilians.