A recent report from the Middle East Eye on Tuesday shows that Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian hostage, whom they had sent into al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to warn others to evacuate. Footage that was shared online shows the man wearing protective clothing with his hands zip tied together.
According to video testimony by Palestinian journalist Mohammaed Akram al-Helo, the man was detained and arrested in the hospital before he was sent back with his message from Israeli forces. After delivering his message and following Israeli orders he was shot three times in cold blood, says the journalist.
James Carey, the host of the Left is Dead podcast, said that this recent report shows that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fear any form of Israeli opposition.
“These stories continue to get more disgusting and just more vile, and I think that the atrophy of the IDF, its inability, and its fear of Israel opposition is really on display here as they're using the same tactics they decry Hamas for, whether it's human shields or, you know, the arrests of thousands of Palestinian children that we've discussed in the past,” said Carey, most likely referencing a report from two months ago that revealed Israel had inflated the death tolls of Israelis killed by Hamas, including the ages of those killed.
“As you know, they inflate these stories of children killed on October 7th or anything like that. And we find out later they're false. And they killed their own hostages trying to go into Gaza to supposedly save them. I think that the real, the projection coming off the IDF is just so strong at this point that if you can't see that this is exactly what they're about, you have to be intentionally missing it,” he added.
During the interview, Sputnik’s Garland Nixon noted that the Palestinian civilian was viewed by the IDF as “just another Palestinian”. This thought echoes statements made by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, he suggested. It was reported by the Middle East Eye that during a cabinet meeting, Ben-Gvir demanded the military shoot women and children in Gaza if they come near the Israeli border.
“Yeah, I think that's what makes this so disgusting. Because after the man is told to warn everyone in the hospital to evacuate, what do they do but start shooting people in the entryway of the hospital, at the gates of the hospital,” said Carey.
Sputnik’s Wilmer Leon also suggested that the Palestinians who were told to evacuate the hospital appeared to have been told to move into a particular direction or space so that they could be more easily killed, in a way that could be compared to herd culling.
“They just told them to essentially line up targets for them. And I think that you see this sort of it's a disgusting analog, but you see this sort of disgusting analog to say some of the horrible crimes of World War II, this sort of corralling and penning of people. And I think that you see this a lot in Palestine and obviously all of Gaza," Carey continued.
“Gaza is a pen, this is what it was made for and I think that the fact is that the Israeli military seems pretty cowardly. They seem pretty inept, in my opinion, and I think that this is pretty standard order for them. They just want to line up targets. And as you said, any Palestinian is a Palestinian. Therefore their life is not as valuable as an Israeli. I think that people can't see how these crimes sort of repeat genocides of the past is really baffling to me, because it's so obvious that there's just no regard for civilian life, in this case.”
Per one report, the al-Nasser hospital has been a lifeline for displaced Palestinians and an estimated 10,000 people are believed to be sheltering there. The young man, Abu Al-Ola, who had passed on the evacuation order was reportedly begged to not return to Israeli soldiers afterward by his own mother.
Al-Ola reportedly protested and explained that he had to return to Israeli soldiers after having been beaten, abused and threatened by them. He had also been told that if he did not leave the hospital doing so would “put all the civilians in danger”. Al-Ola was then shot three times in the chest and abdomen while still inside the gates of the hospital. And despite the IDF telling displaced Palestinians where to exit the hospital in a “secure way” they still shot three of those evacuating under their orders.
The Israeli military has claimed that Hamas is using the hospital for military operations, but medical staff have repeatedly denied the allegations.