Confession of Arrested Gaza Hospital Director: I Was a Member of Hamas

According to Israeli media reports, the director of the "Kamal Adwan" hospital in Gaza, who was arrested by Israeli forces, stated that he joined Hamas in 2010 with a rank equivalent to a brigadier general. In his confessions to Shin Bet (Israel's internal security service) on Tuesday, Ahmad al-Kahlout said that Hamas took over his hospital as a military operations center. Al-Kahlout told his interrogators that many of the hospital staff, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other personnel, were members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Specifically, he mentioned that 16 hospital personnel were Hamas operatives. He was arrested about a week ago. The widespread destruction of civilian facilities in Gaza has drawn significant criticism of Israel. Israel claims that Hamas uses civilian facilities such as hospitals as military sites. Meanwhile, Israeli military sources have told the Jerusalem Post that the war in Gaza may continue for three to nine months after the main fighting ends to combat insurgencies. Hamas militants killed at least 1,200 people in a terrorist attack on October 7 and took around 240 hostages, including children, women, and the elderly. Israel has launched air, sea, and ground attacks on Gaza, calling for the eradication of Hamas. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Israel, and several other countries have listed Hamas as a terrorist organization.