Israel accused Hamas on Thursday of using a southern Gaza hospital as a torture site for Palestinians to stave off an “erosion of support” for the terror group in the Strip, as progress on the US-backed plan for its disarmament continued to stall.
The plan calls for Hamas to give up its weapons in exchange for Israel gradually withdrawing its troops from the enclave. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the plan until Hamas fully disarms, and denied on Thursday that he had approved the entry of international peacekeepers into Gaza.
Hamas has said it accepts the plan. But a joint IDF and Shin Bet statement on Thursday asserted that the terror group remains desperate to hold onto control in the Strip in light of its declining support there, and is increasing its intimidation of Palestinians.
Hamas has been “increasing the activity of its security apparatuses and attempting to impose its rule through intimidation, interrogations and torture of residents,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
The military and Shin Bet said they could now reveal intelligence information “showing that the Hamas terror organization exploits” the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where it “carries out torture and interrogations.”
