From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 19, 2025
MK Tibi equates Beersheba hospital strike with hospitals hit in Gaza fighting
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Condemning Iran’s missile strike on Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, MK Ahmad Tibi, who leads the Knesset’s Arab Ta’al party, equates the attack with Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.
“Attacking a hospital is a crime that must be condemned, always and everywhere,” the veteran Israeli politician tweets.
“We also condemned the attack on hospitals in Gaza. Our hearts go out to the medical teams in Soroka and the injured. Do not harm civilians. Do not harm medical teams. Enough of the wars.”
The Hamas terror group has routinely employed hospitals in Gaza for military purposes, using them for command centers and to hold hostages, the IDF says.
In April, the military said it targeted a Hamas command center that was housed in Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital that had been “used by terrorists to plan and execute attacks against IDF forces and citizens of the State of Israel.”
The army confirmed last week that Hamas leader Muhammed Sinwar was killed in a May 13 airstrike as he hid in a tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Younis.
The 8-meter-deep tunnel where he and other Hamas leaders had been hiding was part of a massive subterranean network. The airstrikes hit areas of the tunnel outside the hospital complex, according to the IDF, and the hospital continued to operate after the strikes.
Israeli hostages were likely held in the tunnel at some point as well, an officer said.
The Times of Israel Community.