IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari addressed the international press on Sunday and spoke about the exploitation by Hamas terrorists of Gaza medical facilities.
"Since the Hamas massacre on October 7th, Israel has been at war. It is a war that we did not start, and we did not seek. Hamas massacred over 1,400 Israelis, babies, women, young girls, young men, children, the elderly, and the disabled. They massacred them all, we will not forget that," Hagari stated at the beginning of his remarks.
"Hamas also holds over 240 hostages, men, women, children, babies, elderly, and disabled. Today marks 30 days of the holding of a nine-month-old baby hostage. Kfir Bivas is now ten months old; my young boy just turned a year old a couple of days ago. Kfir Bivas is being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. It's unimaginable, it's a crime against humanity, with many other children," he continued.
Hagari explained: "Hamas commits war crimes against Israelis, but also against the Gazans themselves. Hamas cynically uses civilians in Gaza as human shields. They kill their own people. This isn't just a terror tactic; human shields are a key pillar in Hamas' operation. Until now, over 800 failed rockets have landed inside Gaza and killed many Gazans."
Hagari delved into the IDF's efforts to assist in the evacuations of civilians from the conflict zones. "We have been calling on civilians in northern Gaza and Gaza City to temporarily move south of Wadi Gaza to a safer area, away from Hamas strongholds. We are monitoring the movement of the population through our humanitarian corridors and increasing our calls to the areas that have lower rates of evacuation."
The spokesperson displayed a graphic showing the millions of attempts made to call on Gaza residents to evacuate, including pamphlets, phone calls, text messages, and pre-recorded calls. He also displayed footage of IDF soldiers dropping the pamphlets over population centers and played one of the recorded messages that were sent to Gaza residents and a phone conversation in which an IDF officer warns a resident of Jabaliya to leave.
According to Hagari, Hamas is preventing residents from leaving: "Hamas is weak without human shields. Hamas is actively stopping Gazans from moving to a safer area." He then played a recording of a call in which a Gaza resident explained how the terror organization is stopping civilians from leaving and displayed photos of Hamas roadblocks.
Hagari continued by explaining how the organization exploits Gaza's civilian infrastructure. "We know that Hamas hides behind civilians in Gaza. Hamas places forces and weapons inside, under, and around schools, mosques, homes, and UN facilities. Among the worst of Hamas' war crimes is the use of hospitals to hide their terror infrastructure."
The spokesperson then revealed footage that shows an opening to a terror tunnel in the Qatari-funded Sheikh Hamad Hospital north of Gaza City. The footage also shows terrorists shooting at IDF soldiers from within the hospital. He also showed how the Indonesian Hospital was built among Hamas military facilities and played recordings that prove that the terror organization takes fuel from the hospital for its own use.
"Hamas is hiding behind hospitals, Hamas is sickly exploiting hospitals to disguise its war machine. Our war is with Hamas, not with the civilians of Gaza. We will not accept Hamas' cynical use of hospitals to hide their terrorist infrastructure. I want to repeat: We will not accept Hamas' cynical use of hospitals to hide their terrorist infrastructure. Hamas exploitation of hospitals must come to an end," Hagari concluded.