INDEX	17 November, 2023
Rotten intelligence at Al Shifa?
The occupation by Israeli tanks and soldiers of the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, looks like a second incredible intelligence failure. But is it? The hospital was expanded by the Israelis when they were occupying the Gaza. It had Israeli architects (led by Gershon Zippor and the late Benjamin Idelson) so it is hard to believe the Israelis would have much trouble getting a floor plan. See Wikipedia for the history of this building. It is true that Al Shifa has a basement complex and it is conceivable that this could have been used as a portal to an underground military headquarters. It is possible, but it doesn't make any sense since the Palestinians are hardly likely to plan their installations on the basis of what buildings legitimise (if that is possible when you are talking about a hospital) attacks by their enemy. Since the Israelis have not gone on tv showing images of any such Palestinian battle complex, it seems highly likely that there never was any such thing. So why occupy the hospital? Well, first there is the no smoke without fire argument. Many sympathetic to the Israelis will believe that since the IDF attacked the hospital there must be something going on there. Secondly, the IDF has bombed other hospital and medical facilities in Gaza. All these operations are, by definition, war crimes. But by occupying Al Shifa they take the focus of the world away from these bombings. So why did the IDF bomb Al Shifa in the first place Well it could be poor intelligence or just maybe it was a calculated attempt to convince Palestinians that living almost anywhere else (including the desert) is better than living in Gaza.
INDEX Jonathan Brind		17 November, 2023