We clamber into the Al-Shifa hospital complex in darkness over a caved-in wall in the perimeter – knocked through with an armoured bulldozer on Tuesday to allow safer access for Israeli forces.
The BBC and one other television crew were the first journalists invited by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to view what Israel says it has found at the site.
Any extra light here is risky so we grope our way through the compound, following the heavily armed troops sent to escort us – stepping around makeshift tents, debris and sleeping people.
Doctors at the hospital say they have been working without power, food or water for days now – and that critically ill patients have died as a result, including newborn babies. People displaced by the fighting in Gaza have been sheltering in the hospital complex.
Lt Col Jonathan Conricus of the Israel Defense Forces (R) talks to BBC correspondent Lucy Williamson (L) a shelf inside Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City (15 November 2023)
Image caption,
But Israel says Hamas also runs a network of underground tunnels, including under Al-Shifa hospital.
The masked special forces leading us into the building over debris and broken glass are a sign of how tense the situation still is here. Our presence, just a day after Israel took control of the hospital, speaks volumes about Israel’s motivation to show the world why they are here.
In the brightly lit corridors of the MRI unit, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus shows us three small stashes of Kalashnikovs, ammunition and bullet-proof vests – he says they have found around 15 guns in all, along with some grenades.
Lt Col Conricus also shows us some military booklets and pamphlets, and a map that he says is marked with potential entry and exit routes from the hospital.
Source: bbc.com
