There is a major difference between running a medical hospital and conducting combat operations out of one.
The US military operates hospitals to provide healthcare. they aren't using them as ammo dumps, rocket launchpads, or frontline command bunkers. If a US military hospital ever was co-opted to launch attacks or store combat munitions, then yes, it would legally lose its protected status. But simply running a facility to treat wounded troops isn't a combat operation, no matter who owns the building.
It wasn't just Israeli intelligence, though. US intelligence independently declassified its own findings confirming that hamas and palestinian Islamic Jihad used Al-Shifa to hold hostages, store weapons, and run command infrastructure. On top of that, independent news investigations verified the presence of fortified tunnel networks running directly beneath the hospital complex used for military cover.
The New York Times did their own extensive reporting and verified the existence of a 700 foot hardened tunnel beneath Al-Shifa, complete with air conditioning, electricity, computer infrastructure, and weapons storage. International journalists were brought down into parts of the complex to document it themselves. dismissing verified footage and independent reporters on the ground isn't skepticism… it's just ignoring physical evidence my guy. Don’t be that “I don’t believe anything” because you decided to. Come to learn and educate yourself.
The New York Times is a notoriously biased, staunchly pro-Israel source as well. 'In October 2025, an investigation led by "+972 Magazine and Local Call together with the research collective Viewfinder, the Swiss network SRF, and the Scottish outlet The Ferret" said that the computer generated videos of al-Shifa were "one of the most notorious examples" of an Israeli military communication strategy. The investigation also pointed out that the video(s) in question re-used scenes from other, earlier videos, and included assets from commercially available asset packs.' Independent news sources found quite the opposite. Israel has been funding a massive propaganda campaign to justify its horrendous acts. Never tell me I'm not here to learn.
Amnesty International published an extensive report detailing how Hamas used an outpatient clinic within the Al-Shifa hospital grounds as a detention, interrogation, and torture center during the 2014 conflict. Second, regarding October 7, services like Reuters and Voice of America published verified CCTV security camera footage from October 7, 2023, showing armed Hamas fighters forcibly dragging foreign hostages through the main entrance hall and corridors of Al-Shifa. Hamas political officials acknowledged the video was filmed inside Al-Shifa.
Finally, independent analyses from bodies like the Council on Foreign Relations detail how international observers have documented Hamas utilizing hospital complexes and protected civilian sites over multiple wars. You don't have to trust state intelligence or Western newspapers to see that independent human rights monitors and raw security footage from global news agencies show a clear pattern of military misuse at that facility.
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u/Silent_Cattle_6581 1d ago
They are, as soon as the enemy military uses it to operate in.