Israeli soldiers found the body of a 65-year-old Hamas hostage and the entrance to a terrorist tunnel near the embattled al Shifa Hospital Wednesday — as Gaza suffered a communications blackout that could delay supply deliveries and hostage negotiations.
Following its raid on Gaza’s largest medical complex, the Israel Defense Forces announced they had found the body of Judith Weiss, who was kidnapped on October 7, in a building near al Shifa.
Weiss, a loving mother and grandmother, was undergoing treatment for breast cancer when she was taken.
She was among nearly 240 people kidnapped by Hamas last month, along with her husband, Shmulik, killed by the terrorist group when they stormed the couple’s safe room in Kibbutz Be’eri.
Along with his body, the IDF said it found Kalashnikov rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other military equipment in a building near al Shifa.
The IDF did not say how or when Weiss died.
The body of 65-year-old Hamas hostage Judith Weiss was found near al Shifa Hospital on Thursday. Weiss with her husband Shmulik when Hamas raided their family’s safe room at Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7.
The Weiss family was among those in Washington DC earlier this week calling on the US to help expedite the safe return of the hostages, including nine American citizens and one legal US permanent resident.
The family was recorded singing in the Senate chamber with Chabad members and other advocates.
The discovery of Weiss’ body came as the IDF claimed it had found a shaft leading to a 300-mile Hamas tunnel system inside the hospital complex, where Israel claims the terror group is guarding a command post.
“Today, the Hamas tunnel infrastructure is exposed inside the hospital,” the Israeli army proclaimed in a video showing the entrance after weeks of denials from Hamas and hospital staff.
The IDF said it found a shaft leading to a Hamas terrorist tunnel in the al Shifa Hospital complex.via the IDF
The discovery of the tunnel came after Wednesday morning’s raid in al Shifa. Hospital officials say the situation is getting worse, with doctors having to amputate patients to save their lives as medical facilities run out of supplies, director Dr Mohammad Abu Salmiyah told Al-Jazeera on Thursday.
Doctors said amputation was necessary to prevent the spread of infection because the injury was incurable. The hospital also ran out of medicine for children suffering from diarrhea and vomiting.
The exact situation inside the hospital remains unclear as a “total communications blackout” hits Gaza due to fuel shortages, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
An IDF soldier shows weapons and military supplies found in al Shifa.via REUTERS
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the humanitarian group, said during a conference in Geneva that as of Thursday, there were basically “no hospitals, no fuel, no water, …no communication” in Gaza.
UNRWA said the blackout also meant humanitarian groups were unable to coordinate supply convoys to Gaza, including a resupply operation scheduled for Friday.
The blackout will likely hamper Hamas’ ability to contact its political leaders in Qatar, which is in talks with Israel and the US to broker a deal to release 50 hostages in exchange for a three-day ceasefire and the release of imprisoned Palestinian women and children. .
The situation worsened in al Shifa, where garbage piled up and doctors had to cut open patients to stop the infection from spreading. via REUTERS
Israel has repeatedly said there will be no ceasefire until the hostages are released and has blamed Hamas for the dire situation the hospital is in.
The White House and American intelligence continue to support Israeli claims that Hamas uses Al-Shifa to hide its headquarters, but have stopped short of providing specific details.
“We have our own intelligence that convinces us that Hamas is using Al-Shifa as a command and control node — and most likely, as well, as a storage facility,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
During the operation of the 551st combat team, according to intelligence information, the terrorist organization’s home in the area of Beit Hanun, the number of rockets in the children’s room >> pic.twitter.com/ug4FEDeiPK
— Israel Defense Forces (@idfonline) November 16, 2023
“We are still confident in the robustness of that intelligence,” he added.
Israel has slammed Hamas for operating inside public buildings, with a recent mission in northern Gaza revealing a cache of rockets stored in a little girl’s bedroom.
Video from Thursday’s progress in the town of Beit Hanoun showed a military rocket lying under a bed frame from a bedroom with a “baby girl” sign on the wall.
“Terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to cynically use Gazan children as cover for terrorist operations,” the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF said it had found similar caches of weapons hidden inside Al Shifa and Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
