IDF Footage Shows Hamas Running Kamal Adwan Hospital as an Operations Center and Using Patients and Medical Staff as Human Shields
The IDF released footage on Sunday, October 11, 2026, that shows Hamas operatives inside Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, using the hospital grounds as an operations center. The military says the footage proves Hamas is still using patients, medical staff, and civilians as human shields, in breach of international law. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have used the hospital over the past several years to plan attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers, "despite repeated calls by Israel and the IDF to refrain from the military use of medical facilities."
In August 2026, intelligence showed Hamas had set up an ambush against IDF soldiers from a structure about 70 meters from the hospital, 50 meters from the Yellow Line and 170 meters from a school; the IDF struck the site, which it presents as an example of Hamas's systematic use of civilian and humanitarian infrastructure. IDF operations near the hospital in 2024 and 2025 found that Hamas and PIJ stored weapons and explosives on the grounds. In one operation, troops captured Anas Muhammad Faiz al-Sharif near the hospital and moved him to Israel for questioning.
Sharif, 21, who joined Hamas in 2021, is one of 240 terrorists the IDF detained in the area around the hospital. "Weapons were moved in and out of the hospital for ambushes and tunnels," he said, explaining that Hamas and PIJ operatives assumed the IDF would not target the hospital while patients and civilians were present: "They believe the army can't bomb the location, like with an F-16 missile, or destroy the building." The IDF says intelligence from these arrests has been critical to ongoing operations. (JPost/VFI News)
“Heavenly Father, we pray in Yeshua's Name that You expose every scheme of those who hide behind the sick and the wounded in Gaza's hospitals. Protect the IDF soldiers who must operate near these places, and shield the patients and medical staff whom Hamas uses as human shields. We ask that You open the eyes of the nations to see the truth that Israel is showing them. Bring to nothing every plan laid against Your people, and bring peace to the Land.”