随着以色列军方的压力越来越大正在进行的突袭在加沙最大的医院Al-Shifa，白宫支持其断言，即美国情报显示哈马斯正在利用该建筑群保护一个关键的指挥中心，并开展其军事活动。
白宫发言人约翰·柯比(John Kirby)周四表示:“我们有自己的情报，让我们相信，哈马斯正在把希法作为一个指挥和控制节点，很可能也是一个储存设施。”。
“他们躲在医院里，利用医院作为抵御军事行动的屏障，将病人和医务人员置于更大的风险之中，”他继续说道。"我们仍然相信这一情报的可靠性。"
Kirby拒绝回答以色列是否与美国分享了从医院搜索中收集的任何新情报的问题，这一搜索现已进入第二天。
“我不会谈论我们之间可能传递的具体情报，”他说。
到目前为止，以色列国防军分享了视频和图像，显示在医院内发现了少量突击步枪、手榴弹、其他军事装备和哈马斯制服，但没有提供证据证明医院被哈马斯用作指挥中心。这家医院的恐怖组织和工作人员否认哈马斯将医院作为指挥中心。
美国官员也没有分享任何具体的情报来支持他们的评估。
以色列和美国已经断言，在Al-Shifa地下有一个隧道网络将该建筑与哈马斯的其他前哨连接起来——以色列的袭击没有证明这一点。
但是官员和分析人士说，以色列军队在这一点上可能仍然只是皮毛。
美国财政部前恐怖主义金融分析师、非营利智库捍卫民主基金会(Foundation for Defense of Democracies)负责研究的高级副总裁乔纳森·尚泽(Jonathan Schanzer)博士说:“据我所知，目前正在进行一场关于深入地下的讨论，以及这是否会以以色列人尚不习惯的方式将军队置于危险之中。”。"我们还没看到下面深处有什么。"
Schanzer还强调，虽然计算机可能不会像大量储存的武器那样具有威胁性，但它们可能持有哈马斯活动的证据，这可能有助于了解该组织在10月7日对以色列的突然恐怖袭击之前的协调及其与资助者的联系。
医院通常受到国际人道主义法的保护，但如果被用于被认为“对敌人有害”的军事活动，它们可能成为合法的目标根据日内瓦公约。
“重要的是要强调，从几周前以色列国防军公开揭露利用医院进行恐怖活动的那一刻起，哈马斯就一直在努力隐藏基础设施和掩盖证据，”一名以色列国防军官员说。"这一行动是复杂的、持续的，不断有新的信息浮出水面."
该官员还声称，以色列军队扫荡医院的有条不紊的步伐是由以色列的理解形成的，即医院内有“隐藏良好的恐怖主义基础设施”，以色列国防军已经发现了先进的通信和军事设备，以及与哈马斯和其他激进组织拘留的数十名人质有关的“信息和镜头”。
以色列国防军在周四的一份声明中宣布，他们发现了一名65岁女子的遗体，这名女子于10月7日在Al-Shifa附近的一座建筑中被绑架，但尚不清楚这一发现是否与该建筑内正在进行的行动有关。
据医院院长穆罕默德·阿布·萨拉米亚说，随着以色列军队的搜索不断推进，医院内的人道主义状况变得更加严峻。
在周四的一次电视采访中，阿布·萨拉米亚说，医院已经没有食物和水，也没有给病人补充氧气。
Abu Salamiya还说，Al-Shifa的工作人员已经忙于处理死者的尸体，现在被禁止离开医院，被迫让尸体堆积在医院的墙内。
“我们在等待慢慢死亡，”阿布·萨拉米亚说。
US 'still convinced' Hamas used Al-Shifa Hospital as command center as Israeli raid continues
As pressure grows on the Israeli military to justify itsongoing raidof Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, the White House is standing behind its assertion that U.S. intelligence shows Hamas was using the complex to shield a key command center and carry out its military activities.
“We have our own intelligence that convinces us that Hamas was using Al-Shifa as a command-and-control node and most likely as well as a storage facility,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Thursday.
“They were sheltering themselves in a hospital, using the hospital as a shield against military action and placing the patients and medical staff at a greater risk,” he continued. “We are still convinced of the soundness of that intelligence.”
Kirby declined to answer questions on whether Israel had shared any new intelligence with the U.S. gathered from its sweep of the hospital, which is now in its second day.
"I'm not going to talk about specific intelligence that may pass between the two of us," he said.
So far, the Israel Defense Forces have shared video and images showing a small number of assault rifles, grenades, other military equipment and Hamas uniforms it says were found inside the hospital but have not offered evidence to prove that it was used by Hamas as a command center. The terrorist group and staff at the hospital denied Hamas is using the hospital as a command center.
U.S. officials have also not shared any specific pieces of intelligence to support their assessment.
Israel and the U.S. have asserted a network of tunnels under Al-Shifa link the structure to other Hamas outposts -- something Israel’s raid has not demonstrated.
But officials and analysts say Israeli troops may still only be scratching the surface at this point.
“There is, as I understand it, an ongoing discussion about breaching deeper below ground and whether this would put troops in harm’s way in ways that the Israelis aren’t comfortable [with] yet,” said Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the senior vice president for research at the non-profit think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. “We haven’t seen what lies deep beneath.”
Schanzer also stressed that while computers may not appear as menacing as massive stockpiles of weapons, they may hold evidence of Hamas’ activities -- potentially shedding light on the group’s coordination ahead of its Oct. 7 surprise terror attacks on Israel and connections to its financial sponsors.
Hospitals are generally protected by international humanitarian law, but they can become legitimate targets if used for military activities that are deemed “harmful to the enemy,”according tothe Geneva Conventions.
"It is important to emphasize that from the moment the IDF publicly exposed the use of hospitals for terrorist activity a few weeks ago, Hamas has persistently worked to conceal infrastructure and cover up evidence,” one IDF official said. "This operation is complex and ongoing, with new information coming to light continuously."
The official also claimed the methodical pace of Israeli troops’ sweep through the hospital was shaped by Israel’s understanding that there is “well-hidden terrorist infrastructure” embedded inside the hospital and that the IDF had already uncovered advanced communication and military equipment, as well as “information and footage” related to the scores of hostages detained by Hamas and other militant groups.
The IDF announced in a statement on Thursday that it had uncovered the remains of a 65-year-old woman abducted on Oct. 7 in a structure near Al-Shifa, but it was not clear whether that discovery is linked to the ongoing operation inside the complex.
As Israeli troops' search presses on, the humanitarian conditions inside the hospital are growing even more dire, according to its director, Muhammad Abu Salamiya.
In a televised interview on Thursday, Abu Salamiya said that the hospital had run out of food and water, as well as supplemental oxygen for its patients.
Abu Salamiya also said that Al-Shifa’s staff, already overwhelmed with handling the bodies of the dead, were now prohibited from leaving the hospital and forced let the corpses pile up inside its walls.
"We are waiting for slow death," Abu Salamiya said.
