On October 7, Israel released CCTV video showing the presence of hostages at Al-Shifa Hospital
A still image from CCTV video released by the Israel Defense Forces shows Hamas fighters carrying hostages to al-Shifa Hospital on October 7. (Credit: Israel Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released closed-circuit television (CCTV) videos and still images showing Hamas fighters carrying hostages to Al-Shifa Hospital on October 7.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari released two short videos, along with several still images, that he said showed Hamas fighters carrying hostages (a Nepali and a mother) through Gaza’s largest hospital.
A CCTV video showed the hostage being admitted to the hospital through the main entrance, Hagari said. The hostages are forced through the building.
Hagari, at a news conference on Sunday, said CCTV video showed the second hostage, his hand bandaged and clearly bleeding, being carried on a stretcher down a hallway to a room.
Hagari did not explain how the IDF captured the videos, although he said Israeli intelligence officers were part of the operation inside the hospital to try to find the hostages.
CNN cannot independently verify the content of videos and still images.
Counter stories: The Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry responded to the IDF briefing by questioning the authenticity of the videos and photos, but if they are true, the images show hospitals providing the medical care I needed.
An IDF spokesman dismissed suggestions that the hostages had been taken to hospital because of injuries, saying one of the two hostages was not injured and did not require medical treatment. They were first taken to a hospital and then shifted to shelters such as nearby residences, he said.
“If medical care had been provided at the hospital and the hostages had stayed there, the Red Cross would have come and the people would have been freed. “None of these things happened,” he said.
In a statement released on Saturday before the CCTV videos were released, Hamas said it had taken several hostages wounded by Israeli airstrikes to hospitals for medical treatment.
Hagari said the latest videos were shared with diplomats from the hostages’ countries of origin, adding that the IDF has yet to locate the Nepali and Thai hostages in Gaza.
The Nepalese Embassy in Israel and the Nepalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to CNN before the video was released that the Nepali national was missing after the October 7 attack and is believed to have been held hostage by Hamas.
Ten Nepali citizens were killed and several others injured when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, Nepal’s ambassador to Israel told CNN after the attack.
More context: Following last Wednesday’s attack on Al-Shifa Hospital, the IDF is under great pressure to prove its claim that Hamas uses Gaza’s largest medical center for combat and command purposes.
The military released video on Sunday from inside an exposed tunnel in the al-Shifa compound, showing an underground tunnel extending downwards.
