Two internal Hamas documents uncovered by Israeli forces in Gaza reveal that international aid groups, including the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, were fully aware that Hamas embedded its fighters and infrastructure inside Gaza’s hospitals — even as they publicly denied or ignored the practice, NGO Monitor said.

The memos, dated February and March 2020, were translated and released by NGO Monitor after being declassified by the IDF. They describe Hamas’s systematic use of hospitals such as Al-Shifa and Nasser as command centers, gathering points for its leaders, and extensions of its terror network.

One document states explicitly that the International Committee of the Red Cross set up offices adjacent to Hamas’s movement offices in the Al-Shifa complex. Another notes that Doctors Without Borders chose a secure communications room in Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital. The memos underscore Hamas’s position that hospitals are not neutral but integral to its operations.

“These groups clearly knew that Hamas exploited these facilities and chose to remain silent,” said Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. “While condemning Israel for targeting hospitals, they ignored the terror infrastructure inside them.”

The documents also show that Hamas’s Interior Security Mechanism tightly controlled NGO activity, forcing foreign delegations to report staff names, accept security escorts, and operate only with Hamas approval — effectively making them complicit in the group’s system.

Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor’s legal adviser, said it was “beyond belief” that organizations like the ICRC continue to deny knowledge of Hamas’s actions. “The documents show they had to report to Hamas. They knew they were being monitored,” she said.

When pressed for comment, the ICRC declined to acknowledge Hamas’s use of medical facilities, citing only international humanitarian law protections for hospitals. Doctors Without Borders reiterated on its website that it has “no direct information” of Hamas fighters in hospitals, despite multiple reports and hostage testimony confirming their presence.

The silence enables Hamas to continue using civilians and medical facilities as human shields. “They’re turning hospitals into military objectives,” Herzberg said. “Covering for Hamas only encourages them to keep doing it.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)