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Israeli soldiers lied about weapons found at Al Shifa Hospital. Photo/Reuters
GAZA – The Israeli army is carrying out cheap propaganda to corner the Hamas army. They made arrangements for weapons claimed to belong to Hamas at Al Shifa Hospital. In fact, what Israel did was a lie.
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) video on November 15 showing a tour of Hamas weaponry found at Al-Shifa hospital showed less weaponry at the scene compared to later footage filmed by international news crews, indicating that the weaponry may have been moved or placed there beforehand to arriving news crews.
CNN compared the footage published by the IDF online with footage captured by Fox News which was granted access to the site hours later. IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus led the tour in the IDF video and the watch on his arm showed the time as 1:18 p.m.
Fox News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Trey Yingst later visited the scene after dark. He said in his report that it was “the middle of the night.”
Yingst was shown a bag located behind an MRI machine inside the hospital with two AK-47 rifles visible on top. However, previously recorded IDF videos only showed one AK-47 weapon. It is unclear where the second AK-47 weapon came from and why it was not visible in the previous IDF clip.
Hours later, the IDF also posted photos online of weapons purportedly found at Al-Shifa hospital. The WhatsApp file name for this photo indicates it was taken at 5:35 p.m.; this occurred after the IDF tour of the MRI complex but almost certainly before the Fox News crew arrived.
It is possible that the ordnance was removed from the scene and replaced before the news crew arrived. But this doesn’t explain why more weapons were visible when the press arrived than in the original IDF video.
The BBC was also given access to the hospital the following day, November 16, and two AK-47s were still visible on top of a bag in the MRI room. CNN has contacted the IDF to clarify the discrepancy but has not received a response.
(ahm)