It has been nearly five days since the Israeli army deleted a social media post that alleged Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital was used as a control and command centre by Hamas before it was occupied.
The army removed the original post on Wednesday, replacing it with a shorter version reposted with an edit the next day. No explanation for the deletion of the post was given by the Israeli military.
“We are going to do a one-shot video, one shot, no editing of all the evidence that we have found just now in this building of al-Shifa Hospital,” army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said at the beginning of both versions of the video.
However, it is clearly visible that the footage was edited in the frame that is six minutes and 26 seconds into the latest and shorter version of the video.
In the video, Conricus walks the viewers through what the Israeli military says is evidence of the presence of Hamas fighters in Gaza’s largest health facility, featuring combat gear and weapons among other items.
Plastic bags purportedly containing what the army describes as “hospital equipment” are among the items displayed in the video.
In this Fact Check, Al Jazeera’s @KhalidMajzoub takes a look at a video in which an alleged nurse in al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza claims that the hospital was controlled by Hamas ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/c0C4l8wcJX
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 18, 2023
However, a close analysis of the contents of the plastic bags shows that what the Israeli army referred to as “hospital equipment” are actually bandages and ointments.
Their presence at the hospital, according to the Israeli military spokesman, renders Gaza’s dire need for medical supplies and equipment a fabrication. He also shows the viewers a laptop along with a few CDs, claiming they contain valuable intelligence.
In the new version of the video, however, the same laptop is blurred. In the original video, one could see its screen in focus, revealing the computer’s model: Lenovo ThinkPad L460, a laptop that comes without a CD reader.
TV reports reveal more issues
Television footage published by BBC and Fox News reporters, embedded with the Israeli army in Gaza, reveal further inconsistencies, documenting how the scene at the hospital was apparently altered.
The reporters were escorted to the facility’s MRI room and filmed what they were told was evidence that Hamas fighters had been there.
In their videos, one can see two AK-47 rifles at the scene – instead of the one AK-47 in the original video shared by the Israeli army.
The BBC’s own fact-checking analysis also highlighted that its reporter was only allowed into the scene a few hours after the Israeli army recorded its video – as was evident from the time on the Israeli army’s spokesman’s wristwatch.
In a statement reported by Israel’s national media, the military denied claims that it had manipulated the scene at al-Shifa.
“In certain areas, explosives had to be relocated, managed and mines and charges had to be taken away. Only after that could they be brought back to the same room to show the international media,” it said.
The inconsistencies in the videos raise serious questions over alleged changes made to the scene. It is vital that these questions are answered as Israel uses such so-called evidence as justification to target hospitals in its war on Gaza.
Furthermore, the so-called evidence still falls short of confirming the Israeli army’s claim of a Hamas command-and-control headquarters inside al-Shifa Hospital.
