IDF says Hamas lying about top official being killed in strike under medical care at hospital

The IDF says Hamas’s claim that top official Ismail Barhoum was receiving medical treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, before he was killed in a strike last night, is “completely false.”

“The claim that Barhoum was in Nasser Hospital for medical treatment is completely false and was spread to mislead the public and the media,” says IDF international media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani on X.

“Barhoum was in the hospital in order to commit acts of terrorism, cynically using hospital patients and the population in the area as human shields. He remained in the hospital for many weeks, during which he held meetings with other terrorists and senior figures in the terrorist organization,” he says.

Shoshani says the IDF suggests that “the media refrain from echoing the falsehoods of the Hamas terrorist organization and its members and check the facts before publishing such claims.”

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law and takes over civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, in a way that prevents the rehabilitation and livelihood of the civilians of Gaza,” he adds.