U.S. Believes Hamas Has a ‘Command Node’ Under Al-Shifa Hospital and Is Taking Fuel For Its Generator, Reports Jake Tapper

CNN anchor Jake Tapper reported on Monday that U.S. intelligence has concluded there is indeed a “command node under the Al-Shifa hospital” in Gaza, which both Hamas and hospital officials have denied.

Tapper’s scoop also noted that the U.S. concluded Hamas “uses fuel intended for it and its fighters regularly cluster in and around Gaza’s largest hospital.”

The hospital, under which Israel claims Hamas has a command center, has been surrounded by intense fighting between Israel and Hamas in recent days as the IDF continues to try and degrade Hamas’s fighting ability and locate hostages.

CNN’s Dana Bash had previously interviewed National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who said:

You can see even from open-source reporting that Hamas does use hospitals, along with a lot of other civilian facilities, for command-and-control, for storing weapons, for housing its fighters. Without getting into this specific hospital or that specific claim, this is Hamas’ track record, both historically and in this conflict.

Tapper’s reporting comes as images of Palestinian babies removed from their incubators due to a power shortage grabbed headlines.

“Those newborns, some of them younger than this war itself, have been taken out of their incubators. They were, last we heard, being held in the surgery unit at Al-Shifa Hospital. Dozens of tiny, tiny Gazans on two beds being kept together, swaddled to try to keep them warm. In some cases, medical officials respirating them with their hands trying to keep them breathing. Basically, doing everything they can to keep them alive,” reported MSNBC’s Raf Sanchez earlier on Monday.

Sanchez noted that three babies had died so far according to officials in Gaza linked to Hamas. He also noted Israel says it tried to deliver fuel to the hospital, but that Hamas prevented the hospital from taking that delivery.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann also reported on the dire conditions inside Gaza and at the hospital on Monday.

“Israel said it’s opened up evacuation corridors from the hospitals, al-Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, where there is a tremendous amount of fighting,” Liebermann reported, adding:

And Israel has carried out strikes and operations very close to the hospital as well as two other hospitals. There have been tens of thousands we’ve seen in recent days leaving north Gaza and Gaza City and heading south. What’s unclear, though, is how many have left the hospitals themselves. These hospitals, which are supposed to be sanctuaries from the fighting, have become shelters as people try to find a safe place.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.