We do have information that Hamas and the Palestinian

Islamic Jihad uses some hospitals in the Gaza Strip,

including the al Shifa Hospital, as a way to

conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages.

They have tunnels underneath these hospitals.

And so Hamas and PIJ members operate a command and

control node from al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

They have weapons stored there and are prepared to

respond to an Israeli military operation against the.

This is, I'm just telling you what we, as

the intelligence community assesses is happening in Gaza City,

how Hamas is using these hospitals to operate.

But absolutely, we do not want to see a

firefight in a hospital where there are innocent civilians.