The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas on Wednesday denied claims by the Israeli military that militants had left Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, following Israeli targeting of the area around the hospital. The movement described the Israeli account as a ‘false claim with no basis in fact’, saying it was being used to justify targeting medical and civilian facilities.
Hamas’s statement came in response to an announcement by the Israeli military claiming that two Palestinians had left the hospital and that one of them had planted explosive devices taken from inside it, before Israeli forces targeted and killed them. According to information published about the announcement, the military provided no evidence to substantiate the claims.
The military’s account and the death of a civil defence worker
The Israeli military claimed that one of those killed, identified as Mohammed Tammous, belonged to Hamas’s military wing while also working for Gaza’s civil defence service. A medical source, however, said that a civil defence worker had died from injuries sustained in Israeli shelling while travelling to help rescue people wounded around Kamal Adwan Hospital.
The source said the injury occurred after Israeli aircraft resumed targeting the area surrounding the hospital. In its press statement, Hamas said the latest claims were a continuation of earlier Israeli propaganda alleging that the movement’s leadership headquarters were located inside hospitals that Israeli forces had entered previously.
Hamas accuses Israel of a disinformation campaign
The movement added that those claims had been proven false, noting that international organisations are currently operating in the vicinity of the hospitals. It said the Israeli account formed part of what it described as a ‘systematic and ongoing’ campaign of incitement and disinformation, which it said was being used to justify targeting hospitals and civilian facilities and as a pretext for continuing military operations in the Gaza Strip.
A day before the statement was issued, Hamas had warned against using Israeli allegations as a pretext to target what remains of Gaza’s medical facilities. It called on the United Nations to visit the hospitals and conduct field inspections of the Israeli claims, in response to remarks posted by an Israeli military spokesperson on the X platform that included a threat to take action against medical facilities.
The developments come amid widespread destruction of the health sector during the Israeli war on Gaza, which has continued since October 2023 and, according to the reported toll, has resulted in more than 74,000 deaths and over 175,000 injuries. Hamas also accuses Israel of failing to implement obligations set out in the ceasefire agreement in force since 10 October 2025, foremost among them opening the crossings and allowing medical and relief aid and fuel into the Gaza Strip.
The escalation coincides with the approaching Israeli Knesset elections, scheduled for 27 October, amid intensifying competition between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp and his opponents, and rising right-wing rhetoric in the election campaigns.
