In the footage, a man who is said to be a staff member of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, says he joined Hamas’ military wing in 2021, and that the organization and its ally, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, base themselves at hospitals because they believe the Israeli military will not target them there.
Speaking while in Israeli detention, the man appears to be under direct or implied duress. The Geneva Conventions, a set of treaties that set humanitarian rules for war, protecting civilians and soldiers, say that images of prisoners of war (POW) should not be exposed to “public curiosity.” The International Committee of the Red Cross says that that extends to videotaped interrogations: “Even if POWs appear to make voluntary public statements or willingly participate in the recording of images, disclosure to the public remains unlawful,” because “their wellbeing depends entirely on an enemy power.”
Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), which has visited some of the more than 130 Gazan medical professionals in Israeli detention, says those detained have routinely been subjected to torture – something the Israeli government denies.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have repeatedly targeted Gaza hospitals with armed drones and ground raids, alleging that Hamas uses the facilities as “command and control” centers. The military has regularly released interrogation videos with healthcare personnel detained in those raids as well as photos of small arms allegedly found at hospitals, and videos of militants operating in the vicinity of hospitals – but it has not presented conclusive evidence about a single command center located within a hospital complex.
Following an Israeli raid last month, northern Gaza’s last functioning hospital – Kamal Adwan – was forced out of operation. The military claimed that it captured 240 “Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.”
Among those detained was the head of the hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, whom Israeli authorities suspect of being “a Hamas terrorist operative” – an accusation for which Israeli authorities have provided no evidence. Dr. Abu Safiya was briefly detained at the end of October but released several hours later. He now remains in Israeli detention and has been denied access to a lawyer, according to PHRI. His mother died of a heart attack this week, his family said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Israel has arrested hundreds of medical professionals,” Guy Shalev, the head of PHRI, told Al Jazeera last month. “They are still holding 130 medical professionals. We visited almost 30 of them. And they testify (about) torture, they don’t get the food and nutrition they need. They don’t get the clothes they need, mattresses to lie on. There is direct violence by prison guards. This is the day-to-day experience of prisoners in Israeli incarceration facilities.”
Doctors released from Israeli custody have alleged that they were tortured. CNN has previously reported on the grave conditions in detention.
The Israeli military has previously denied any allegations of torture in its custody but has said that any prisoner had the right to file an appeal: “The IDF ensures proper conduct towards the detainees in custody. Any allegation of misconduct by IDF soldiers is examined and dealt with accordingly.”
The US State Department says it agrees with Israel’s assessment about Hamas using hospitals as “command and control” centers. Israel’s most forceful accusation came early in the war, when it said that there was a bunker facility under Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital. When CNN was taken to the facility under IDF escort, journalists were shown a shaft at the hospital complex, but no evidence to suggest that there was a command-and-control facility.
This is not the first time the Israeli government has released a video with an interrogation of a Kamal Adwan staff member. In December 2023, Israel’s Internal Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, released an interrogation video of Ahmed Al-Kahlot, then the director of the hospital. He said that the Hamas political leadership used the hospital in the early days of the war because they felt they would not be targeted there. Dr. Al Kahlot, who was arrested in December 2023, remains in Israeli detention.
Early in the war, the Israeli military released videos that it said showed Hamas’ presence at Al-Shifa hospital, presenting security camera footage that appeared to show hostages being brought through the hospital. CNN could not independently verify the content of the videos.
The IDF has also regularly released videos of, and shown journalists, caches of small arms allegedly found at hospitals, though CNN analysis has shown that some of those weapons may have been moved or placed there prior to journalists’ visits.
