Overview

• NGO Monitor released translated 2020 communications from Hamas’s Interior Ministry that describe tight oversight of international medical delegations and their placement within Gaza medical facilities.
• One memo says the International Committee of the Red Cross operated in a wing at Al-Shifa Hospital adjacent to Hamas movement offices, while another states MSF France used a secure landline room at Abu Yousef El-Najar Hospital.
• The documents depict hospitals serving military roles for Hamas, including command hubs, tunnel access points, weapons storage, and intelligence sites, according to NGO Monitor’s summary.
• Hamas’s system reportedly restricted NGO movement, required security approval, and assigned escorts from its security personnel for medical delegations inside hospitals.
• NGO Monitor argues such arrangements undermine medical neutrality and suggest NGO awareness, claims that named organizations have not acknowledged and that have not been independently verified.