Hamas terrorists took measures to prepare for the IDF's November raid of Shifa Hospital in Gaza by destroying documents and transferring hostages to an alternate location, according to intelligence documents obtained by The New York Times.
The report said that US intelligence found that Hamas destroyed technology and documents crucial to the organization's operation, with Shifa hospital as a home base.
US intelligence sources emphasized that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad used the hospital as a command center for terrorists in the field fighting against Israeli forces. This intelligence assessment was conducted after Israel insisted that Hamas had built a huge military compound under the hospital – which, according to the report, had become a "legitimate military target for Israel."
Hostages not located, but remains found nearby
While inside the hospital complex, the IDF did not find hostages but did find an arsenal of weapons behind medical equipment. The bodies of two murdered hostages were found surrounding the complex.
The IDF's findings at the Shifa hospital grounds indicated use of the space as a military compound, uncovering meters of tunnels complete with living rooms, kitchenettes, toilets, and other infrastructure.
The route of the tunnel, revealed after the shaft seen in the photographs published by the IDF spokesperson, passes under the building of the Qatari hospital located in the Shifa complex and is lined with electricity and communication infrastructure throughout.