By The Jerusalem Post (World News) | Created at 2025-01-04 08:10:06 | Updated at 2025-01-06 09:56:08
2 days ago
“It was made to look like a hospital, and patients were brought there just for appearances,” Master Sgt. (Res.) G. said.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JANUARY 4, 2025 09:56 Updated: JANUARY 4, 2025 10:01
IDF arrests suspected Hamas terrorists outside of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
During interrogations by IDF investigators, soldiers learned that senior Hamas operatives were running the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya, Gaza, and planned to escape from the hospital during the IDF raid there last Friday using ambulances, Unit 504 investigators revealed to N12 in an interview published Thursday.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital was raided last Friday by the IDF and Shin Bet, who arrested more than 240 terrorists, some of whom participated in the October 7 massacre. Security forces decided to raid the hospital after intelligence revealed there were hundreds of terrorists hiding inside the compound.
An IDF reservist, Lt. (Res.) D., told N12 that while interrogating terrorists at the hospital, they all pointed to the hospital director and asked for him to come see them and help them. “We understood that the person at the very heart of the event, orchestrating the terror and Hamas activity in the compound, was the hospital director himself,” Lt. (Res.) D. said.
The reservist recalled that during the raid on the hospital, the hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh, was “strutting around like a peacock” and was “confident he wouldn’t be arrested, believing he was untouchable and in control of the situation.”
Sgt. Maj. (Res.) A., another investigator present during the raid, confirmed that they discovered that the hospital director was a senior Hamas operative.
Master Sgt. (Res.) G., a commander and combatant in Shayetet 13 who was also at the raid, also said that the hospital director “really did walk around the premises like a peacock.”
"Dr. Abu Safiyeh watched as his doctors were incriminated one by one. He thought he wouldn’t be arrested. We realized that his disguise was just a facade—they were terrorists with blood on their hands. The hospital director understood that the entire charade had fallen apart, and in the end, he too was arrested," he told N12.
Sergeant (res.) A. revealed that Hamas terrorists were planning to use ambulances to escape from the IDF raid during interrogations. “We received information that one of them would try to fake an injury, and based on that, we decided to check anyone inside the ambulance,” A. told N12.
“I approached the ambulance area and questioned a man who seemed suspicious from the outset,” A. continued. “He gave me a false name, presented a fake ID, and claimed he had been injured a few days earlier—but I noticed that the cast on his hand was fresh. The people around him also reacted to his lie with body language that reinforced my suspicions. I confronted him, telling him he was lying and that I knew exactly who he was and what his role was," A. continued.
The man who was posing as a wounded civilian was actually a Hamas commander who had been involved in terrorist activities since October 7.
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During his interrogation, he confessed and told interrogators that the doctor, who was with him, faked the cast so that he could escape in a humanitarian aid ambulance. “They know that there is little chance that the IDF will interrogate wounded people who are being evacuated for treatment, so he tried to take advantage of the opportunity and escape,” A. said.
Distinguishing between civilian and terrorist
Unit 504 investigators also told N12 how they distinguished between citizens and terrorists during the raid.
"The unit has a technological and intelligence system that can clearly distinguish between civilians and terrorists," Lt. (Res.) D., a field investigator, explained to N12. "Despite the claims made around the world, with the help of techniques and technologies, we can identify who is innocent. Those individuals are released and provided with water, food, and anything else they need. The terrorists who are captured are interrogated in accordance with international law," Sgt. Maj. (Res.) A. added.
Sgt. (res.) A. said that the investigators set up a “reception desk” after combat soldiers brought them terrorists captured inside the hospital. “We determined who each person standing before us was,” N12 quoted him saying. A. recalled that during these interrogations, he realized the extent of the terrorist operations inside the hospital.
"When we realized there were hundreds of terrorists who needed to be interrogated, we switched to conducting broader interrogations involving multiple detainees at once," Lt. (Res.) D. told N12.
"Suddenly, information emerged that corroborated with other detainees' statements, and new details surfaced about specific rooms inside the hospital. This was a significant real-time aid for the [combat] forces,” D. revealed.
Master Sgt. (Res.) G told N12 that they found terrorists disguised as women and even one who disguised himself as a woman holding a child. “With the necessary sensitivity, we placed the children aside and gave them candy. We checked to ensure that no terrorists had infiltrated disguised as women and that there was no attempt to hide hostages and smuggle them out of the area under the guise of humanitarian aid. However, anyone genuinely uninvolved in terrorism was not interrogated and was released," N12 quoted G as saying.
The unit also noted that when they conduct medical checks of those who are in ambulances and the checks show that nothing is wrong with them, usually the terrorist who is claiming to be a wounded civilian confesses.
"At that point, they start telling us everything that happens in the hospital. Without a doubt, every Hamas terrorist we interrogated confirmed that the Kamal Adwan Hospital is their military base: it’s where they regroup, store their weapons, and manage the intelligence they gather. Some of the hospital rooms have been converted into Hamas operational rooms."
"Kamal Adwan Hospital is a Hamas operations and organization base, including the preparation of explosives, ammunition, and weapons," N12 quoted Master Sgt. (Res.) G. as saying. "Every issue related to hostages has passed through this hospital at various times. Hamas set up operational rooms inside the hospital, and no civilian ever entered those rooms."
The Unit 504 investigators said that this hospital did not even really function as a hospital. “It was made to look like a hospital, and patients were brought there just for appearances. In reality, there are entire sections meant solely for the entry of Hamas terrorists,” Master Sgt. (Res.) G. explained.
Kamal Abdel Hafiz Adwan, who the hospital was named after, was a Fatah terrorist who carried out attacks in Nahariya and in the Carmel Market, according to N12. He was killed during a 1973 raid in Lebanon by the IDF.
