Israel Says it Found Body of Another Hostage
The Facts
The Israeli military said late Thursday that it had found the body of one of the over 200 hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 surprise attack against Israel, Yehudit Weiss, in a building near al-Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's largest hospital. The military said on Friday that it had also found the body of Cpl. Noa Marciano near al-Shifa a day earlier after reporting her death a few days beforehand.
The military also said that it found a tunnel near al-Shifa along with some weapons, providing videos and photographs, though the footage couldn't be independently verified. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using the hospital as a command center, saying more recently that the group had hidden evidence of its activities at al-Shifa. Hamas and medical administrators have vehemently denied Israel's claims.
The Spin
Pro-Israel narrative
Israel has presented evidence that terrorists from Hamas have placed their headquarters underneath hospitals in Gaza, specifically to use civilians at the facilities as human shields. Indeed, the US has also verified that Hamas is using al-Shifa as a command center. Despite this, Israel, which has the right to defend its borders, is doing everything it can to minimize harm to the civilian population and provide aid while conducting critical military operations.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Even if Israel's claims that Hamas is using hospitals as bases of operations are valid, it has an obligation under international law to protect these facilities during armed conflict. As Israel is committing horrendous human rights violations in Gaza, the international community must step up efforts to end the assault on Palestinians and work to address a humanitarian cataclysm.