The United Nations World Health Organization (W.H.O.) chief is facing backlash after publishing an “abhorrent” post effectively blaming Israel for turning Gaza’s Shifa hospital into a “battlefield,” while ignoring Hamas’s takeover of the facility and use of it as a terror base — the very reason for Israel’s operating there.
Following attacks from the hospital, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spent roughly two weeks neutralizing approximately 200 terrorists and detaining around 500 at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, remarkably managing to do so without civilian casualties or endangering any medical staff or patients.
On Sunday, the IDF released photographic evidence of an extensive arsenal hidden within the hospital’s maternity ward, amidst their ongoing anti-terror operations.
The IDF had previously evacuated the hospital in November, uncovering numerous terror tunnels. However, terrorists reoccupied and resumed operations from the medical facility, blatantly contravening international humanitarian norms.
On Monday, W.H.O. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared an image of Shifa’s damaged complex, remarking that “hospitals must be respected and protected; they must not be used as battlefields.”
In response, many took to social media to call out the public health official for having chosen to “cover for terrorists.”
“The World Health Organization couldn’t find evidence of COVID origins in Wuhan and can’t find evidence of Hamas at Shifa,” wrote Senate Republican Policy Committee Chair Joni Ernst (R-IA), co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Who needs WHO?” she added.
Former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy noted that when hospitals are “abused for military purposes, like Hamas did using Shifa as a stronghold,” they cannot “give terrorists immunity.”
“The hospital was full of Hamas terrorists and weapons and they were shooting from inside the complex,” wrote former Trump administration U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman. “There was no ‘Israeli siege,’ just a very effective and humane Israeli anti-terror operation.”
“You had zero credibility before this statement and your record remains intact,” he added.
International human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky called Tedros’ “credibility” into question, insisting that “if you can’t be honest and condemn Hamas for turning hospitals into terrorist HQs, maybe best you just sit this one out.”
“The Geneva Conventions dictates that a hospital can lose its protected status if an armed group uses the hospital to carry out ‘acts harmful to the enemy,’” wrote legal analyst Mor Hogeg.
“Educate yourself and resign,” he added.
“Easily avoided: Tell your friends in Hamas not to use hospitals to launch terrorist operations,” wrote former United Nations Development Programme consultant Saul Montes-Bradley. “Presto!”
“If only the head of the World Health Organization would speak as forcefully against Hamas using hospitals as military bases as he does in speaking out against Israel clearing Hamas out of hospitals,” wrote Canadian columnist Brian Lilley.
“How about you tell your jihadi friends not to turn a hospital into a base of operations?” asked journalist Jordan Schachtel.
“More pro-Hamas propaganda & antisemitism at @UN by @WHO,” wrote Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason University’s Scalia School of Law and a visiting intellectual property fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
“Why are you lying by omitting the crucial part? Why don’t you at least write ‘following the end of the battle between Hamas forces and IDF’?” asked Swedish lawyer and politician Ilan Sadé.
“Your organisation, as so many other UN-affiliated organisations, has turned into an utter disgrace,” he added. “Shame on you.”
“This is an abhorrent post and you should be ashamed,” wrote speechwriter Aviva Klompas. “Nearly 1,000 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists turned this hospital into their command center. They were shooting from the maternity ward and burn unit.”
“Why do you constantly cover for terrorists?” she asked.
While Tedros “blames Israel” for the hospital becoming part of the combat zone, Mossoff accused him of not issuing a “single word about Hamas violating international law in its undeniable use of hospitals & use of civilians as shields in *counter-offensive* by Israel in war after Oct 7.”
A collaborative statement from the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) on Monday highlighted the discovery of a vast array of weaponry concealed within the hospital’s maternity ward, including mortar shells, explosives, sniper and Kalashnikov rifles, and additional munitions.
The weapons were ingeniously hidden within pillows, beds, ceilings, and walls. The operation, spearheaded by the 162nd Division and executed by the Nahal Reconnaissance Unit, also led to the elimination of armed terrorists and key Hamas figures during the confrontation.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF Chief of Staff, reaffirmed the operation’s precision, emphasizing the absence of harm to medical staff and patients, alongside the significant terrorist casualties.
The Israeli government has voiced concern over the lack of international medical organizations’ outcry against the misuse of medical facilities for terrorism, notably the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Harvard University students organized a vigil mourning the alleged “victims” at Shifa Hospital, who were all identified as terrorists.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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