IDF reveals how it discovered Hamas terrorists operating from Adwan Hospital in Gaza

Israeli military investigators revealed how they discovered that Hamas terrorists were running northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital during an interview released on Thursday.

The terrorists used the hospital as a civilian façade for their activities. In late December, Israeli forces arrested over 240 Hamas terrorists who were hiding in Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya. Some of the terrorists were participants in the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of some 251 people from Israeli Gaza border communities.

“It was made to look like a hospital, and patients were brought there just for appearances,” Master Sgt. (Res.) G. told Israeli news outlet N12.

The Israeli investigators eventually realized that the hospital director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh, was running Hamas’ local terror activities from the hospital.

"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," G. stated.

“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. revealed. The IDF reservist said Abu Safiyeh was “confident he wouldn’t be arrested, believing he was untouchable and in control of the situation.”

Another IDF investigator, Sgt. Maj. (Res.) A., who was present at the time, confirmed that Abu Safiyeh was a senior Hamas terrorist and that they were planning to escape IDF troops by using ambulances.

“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. said during the interview with 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," he recalled.

“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. added.

Master Sgt. (Res.) G. revealed that the Israeli forces discovered that some terrorists were disguised as women. One terrorist held a child in an unsuccessful effort to trick the Israeli forces.

“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," G. recounted.

The IDF raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital was the culmination of three months of intense military operations against Hamas terrorists in northern Gaza. The Israeli military eliminated approximately 2,500 terrorists in what was described as Hamas’ last major stronghold in the northern section of the enclave.

G. concluded by stressing that the hospital played an important role in Hamas’ terrorist activities in northern Gaza.

"Kamal Adwan Hospital is a Hamas operations and organization base, including the preparation of explosives, ammunition, and weapons," he said. "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."

Hamas has systematically embedded itself in hospitals and other civilian structures in flagrant violation of international law. In March, Israeli forces killed some 90 terrorists and interrogated another 350 at a military raid at Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza City.