A former Israeli defence minister has told Sky News it is “absolutely not true” that the country’s military deliberately targets hospitals.
In an interview with Yalda Hakim, Benny Gantz – who quit Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet last year – also said he has “nothing against” the people of Iran or Gaza.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said at least 94% of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed.
A total of 917 healthcare workers in medical facilities have been killed, the WHO said last month.
Asked about the figures, and if the Israeli military deliberately targets healthcare buildings, Mr Gantz replied: “This is absolutely not true.”
He said that when the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) targeted al Shifa hospital in Gaza earlier in the war, it “did everything in our capacity to ensure nobody was getting hurt”.
Mr Gantz continued: “Those hospitals are a coverage, they are being used by Hamas to put all their infrastructure under those hospitals, underneath those schools.
“We alert them and evacuate it, then we do what we have to do. We do not deliberately go and hit a hospital just because it’s a hospital. There’s no way we’re doing it.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The Israelis’ military action in Gaza began after Hamas’s attacks on 7 October 2023.
Israel last week started launching airstrikes on targets in Iran as tensions between the countries escalated.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Describing himself as a “man of peace”, Mr Gantz said: “I have nothing against the people of Iran as much as I don’t have anything against the people of Gaza.
“I do hope that one day they can live with something they can live with and we can live beside.
“Until then, we must continue to operate to free our hostages, to make sure that Hamas is not threatening anyone and we can move forward.”
Read more:
British surgeons on life in Gaza
Israeli hospital damaged in Iranian strike
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
He said of Israel’s military action: “Yes we are fighting for own security [..] but aren’t we serving strategically the region? Aren’t we serving strategically the global society?”
His comments came after an Israeli airstrike on a camp in north Gaza killed a total of 19 people on Thursday, according to the director of al Shifa hospital.
They included three children and five women, Mohamed Abu Selmiyah said.
Since the war began in October 2023, a total of 55,706 people have been killed, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
