Israel-Hamas war: IDF says it found Gaza hospital where hostages were held; identifies kidnapped soldier

The Israeli military on Monday shared video and photographs claiming that it has recovered weapons stored by Hamas in the basement of a children’s hospital in Gaza where it also said hostages appear to have been held.

The Israeli military also confirmed on Tuesday the identity of a soldier being held hostage by Hamas, after the armed wing of the Palestinian group published a video showing the young woman in captivity.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said hospitals in the Gaza Strip must be protected and he hoped for “less intrusive” action by Israel as Israeli tanks advanced to the gates of the besieged enclave’s main hospital.

Israel Hamas war Day 39 Latest Updates:

1. Israel military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said troops had found a command centre with an armoury of weapons including grenades, suicide vests and other explosives stored by Hamas militants in the basement of Rantissi Hospital, a paediatric hospital with a specialty in treating cancer patients. “And we also found signs that indicate that Hamas held hostages here,” Hagari told a televised briefing. “This is currently under our investigation. But we also have intelligence that verifies it.”

2. Hagari showed footage of what appeared to be rudimentary living quarters, including a small kitchen, as well as a nearby tunnel shaft which he said led to ​​the house of a senior Hamas naval commander. In addition, troops found a motorcycle with gunshot marks which he said appeared to have been used to bring hostages to Gaza after the surprise attack on October 7 when Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and seizing around 240 captives, according to Israeli authorities.

3. The Israel Army wrote in a statement that “our hearts go out to the Marciano family, whose daughter, Noa, was brutally kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organisation”, officially confirming a hostage’s identity for the first time, after Hamas gunmen abducted about 240 people when they stormed across the border from Gaza on October 7.

4. On Monday night, Hamas’ Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades published a video of the soldier apparently reading a message in Hebrew in which she identified herself by name and identity card number and said she had been detained in Gaza for four days. “An IDF (Israel Defense Forces) representative came to the family’s home and informed them of the video’s publication,” the army statement said.

5. Israeli tanks have taken up positions outside Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza City’s main medical centre, which Israel claims sits atop tunnels housing a headquarters for Hamas fighters who are using patients as shields. Hamas denies the Israeli claim.

6. The armed wing of Hamas said it was ready to free up to 70 women and children held in Gaza in exchange for a five-day truce in the war, in which Gaza medical authorities say more than 11,000 people have been confirmed killed, about 40% children.

7. Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra, who was inside Al Shifa hospital, on Monday said 32 patients had died in the previous three days, including three newborns, because of the siege of the hospital in northern Gaza and a lack of power.

8. Shifa is Gaza’s largest and best-equipped hospital. But Israel claims the facility also is used by Hamas for military purposes. It says Hamas has built a vast underground command complex centre below the hospital, connected by tunnels.

9. Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said Hamas has “lost control” of the Gaza Strip it has ruled for 16 years. “Hamas has lost control of Gaza. Terrorists are fleeing southward. Civilians are looting Hamas bases,” he said without providing evidence. “They don’t have faith in the government anymore,” Gallant said in a video broadcast on Israel’s main TV stations.

10. Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy and industry minister, said the country’s 2024 budget will be structured to focus on the war and then economic growth thereafter, with concessions necessary to expand the country’s unity government.