A fabricated video of a woman claiming to be a nurse at Al-Shifa Hospital and alleging Hamas control has circulated on social media. In the video, she speaks in English, stating, “I can’t believe I’m doing this but the world has to know, has to know, has to know, what Hamas is making here, taking over the entire hospital, they’re taking over the fuel, the medicine, I have nothing to treat with, I had to fix a fracture for a five-year-old boy without morphine because Hamas took it to themselves, ya allah, please if you hear me.. please leave, run away, don’t stay here please”. Then she speaks in Arabic: “people get out of here get out of Al-Shifa.”
Kashif investigated the video and found the claim to be misleading. The woman is not a nurse or a doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital:
1. Dr. Mohammed Abu Salima, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, denied to Kashif the existence of this woman on the staff, stating he hadn’t seen her before and didn’t know her. He confirmed that Hamas does not control the hospital, “there are no armed individuals inside, and the hospital has ceased operations due to power, fuel, and water shortages. The hospital is in contact with the Red Cross to try to evacuate patients and the injured to a safe place.”
2. Dr. Maha Al-Bayram, who works at Al-Shifa Medical Hospital, told Kashif that she hasn’t seen this woman in the hospital and doesn’t know who she is.
3. Anadolu Agency photographer Mohammed Dahlan, who covered events at Al-Shifa Hospital, stated to Kashif that he doesn’t know the woman and hasn’t seen her as part of the staff. He also denied the allegations of armed individuals inside the hospital.
4. Activist Mustafa Abu Muath, who left Al-Shifa Hospital two hours ago (from writing this piece) and witnessed to Kashif that there are no armed individuals inside the complex. He mentioned hearing intense clashes around the hospital amid difficult conditions with thousands of displaced people, the injured, medical staff, and hundreds of bodies in the hospital’s courtyards and corridors. The hospital faces power, water, and fuel shortages.
5. Kashif searched for the woman but found no information about her name or identity. However, her accent in the video, both in English and Arabic, appears strange, indicating she is not of Arab origin or from the Gaza population. For example, her Arabic statement at the end, “ya alam ya nas etlau min hun,Etlau min Al-Shifa,” shows a composition and pronunciation not typical of an Arabic speaker or Gaza resident.
| Source of verification | Source of claim |
| Dr. Mohammed Abu Salima, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital Dr. Maha Al-Bayram, a doctor at Al-Shifa Medical Hospital Anadolu Agency photographer Mohammed Dahlan and activist Mustafa Abu Muath, both were covered from inside the hospital | ايدي كوهين Hearts of Israel ايديت Edith @kariri___2030 @iAbdulaziz333 @ClioDunn sveta10071976 waseem_a73 yarden_vizel barikahalon |
