Shortly after 10:40 a.m. on October 7, a large number of vehicles drove through the gates of Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza. These were not ambulances, and they were not transporting wounded terrorists. They were transporting Israeli hostages.

Based on newly emerged exclusive Palestinian video footage, it can now be demonstrated that Al-Shifa Hospital served as a key Hamas command center for the transfer and distribution of abducted Israelis.

Of particular significance to this investigation are two videos that were available only briefly on a Palestinian Telegram channel. They show abducted Israeli vehicles being driven onto the Al-Shifa Hospital compound.

This marks the first time this material has been publicly presented in this form and properly analyzed.

Until now, official evidence suggested that only two or three hostages passed through Al-Shifa Hospital on October 7. The following evidence, including frame analysis of previously unreleased footage, shows that this figure is a gross underestimate and that the actual number was much higher.

One of the most revealing aspects of what transpired at Al-Shifa is not only what happened, but what did not happen. Although prominent journalists from Gaza were present, none reported on the arrival of the hostages. One even falsely portrayed a Jeep full of captured Israeli women as „wounded Palestinians“ brought in for treatment.

Warning: This article contains disturbing footage of hostages taken on October 7.

The Hostages from Nahal Oz

On the morning of October 7, one of the gravest intelligence and security failures in IDF history occurred at the Nahal Oz military base near Gaza. The base was quickly overrun by a large number of terrorists, and more than 20 soldiers were killed there—including 16 female spotters (observational personnel).

Ten living hostages were abducted from the base—seven female „observers“ and three members of a tank crew.

In May 2024, with the families‘ consent, a longer video concerning the female hostages prior to their abduction from the Nahal Oz base was released. Fragments of this footage had already been published by Hamas on Telegram shortly after October 7. Frame-by-frame analysis of the entire video now shows that six hostages were forced into a single stolen IDF Jeep: four female „observers,“ all visibly alive at the time and being led to the Jeep; a fifth hostage, likely also an „observer,“ lying injured on the floor of the vehicle (presumably Noa Marciano*); and a sixth, a soldier who appeared to be severely injured or already dead:

The Abduction of Naama Levy and Ori Megidish*

Not all hostages from Nahal Oz were transported in the same vehicle. Some were separated at the base and placed into different cars before being driven to Gaza.

Before the six hostages in the green military Jeep were brought to Gaza, another transport was already on its way: here we see Naama Levy and Ori Megidish*, surrounded by terrorists, being driven away from the Nahal Oz base.

The Route in Gaza

By searching dozens, if not hundreds, of Telegram channels, additional clues were found, allowing a portion of this vehicle’s journey to be tracked. The decisive evidentiary details captured in all the visual material used here are the vehicle’s license plate 703-145, the three bullet holes in the windshield, the broken small headlight on the front right, and the accompanying terrorists.

This footage was recorded shortly after the stolen vehicle entered Gaza City. It was hosted on only a single Telegram channel from Nablus. In the clip, the Jeep carrying the hostages from Nahal Oz drives through a narrow street in Gaza. Civilians cheer as the stolen Jeep and other vehicles pass by:

The visible landmarks enabled a precise localization of the footage (geolocation credited to „TwistyCB“ on X):

The street visible in the clip is Riyadh Street, located in the Shuja’iyya district. The Jeep is heading west toward Rimal and the coast.

Continuing to Al-Shifa

Other images of the Jeep allow us to track the journey further. Based on this location (geolocation credited to „TwistyCB“ on X), we know this picture was recorded shortly after the street scene footage. Here, the Jeep is at the intersection of Baghdad Street and Salah al-Din Road, continuing westward toward the Rimal district of Gaza and the coast:

Another useful image from the same Telegram post shows the vehicle shortly before the turn—three distinct bullet holes are visible in the windshield—a telling characteristic that would later allow the vehicle to be identified with certainty.

The image below comes from the widely circulated footage of Naama Levy (and Ori Megidish*), who was dragged from the rear of a vehicle into the back seats when the Jeep stopped in Gaza City. The vehicle is a dark-painted Jeep Wrangler:

This footage was also geolocated (geolocation credited to @BenDoBrown on X), establishing that this vehicle traveled along the same route down Baghdad Street as the captured IDF Jeep carrying the other six hostages.

What is significant here is not only the identity of the vehicle, but also the alignment of the routes. Both vehicles moved westward through Gaza City toward the Rimal district—in the exact same direction as Al-Shifa.

Based on the geolocation of the image of the stolen IDF vehicle turning onto Baghdad Street and the position of the Jeep Wrangler holding Naama Levy, we can definitively establish that these locations were only 160 meters apart.

1 Recording location of the video on Riyadh Street, 2 Location of the Jeep at the intersection with Baghdad Street, 3 Location of the footage of the Jeep with Naama Levy.

This proves that at least two separate vehicles carrying hostages abducted from the same base were traveling on parallel routes toward the same destination—within the exact same timeframe.

Based on the reconstructed route taken by the Nahal Oz convoy toward the Hamas stronghold of Rimal, the vehicles passed another fully functional hospital along the way—refuting any credible claim that this trip was about providing urgent medical care. Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was operating normally on October 7. It is located significantly closer to Nahal Oz and borders the route through Gaza City.

As these vehicles continued driving, Al-Ahli Hospital was only one or two minutes away:

However, the terrorists did not stop there. Instead, they drove past Al-Ahli and continued westward toward Al-Shifa, situated in the heart of the Rimal district where the Hamas stronghold was located.

The Destination: The Hamas Headquarters at Al-Shifa

While much of the October 7 footage was widely distributed, a portion of critical material remained inaccessible. The following video is one of two clips identified by veteran German journalist Wolfgang Tietze, who worked for Spiegel TV / Der Spiegel from 1990 to 2003.

Both videos were later deleted, and the account that uploaded them was banned. They had been posted with the download function disabled. Wolfgang Tietze recognized their significance and recorded the footage directly from his screen (I have also provided a statement published alongside this investigation). These two videos form the core of this research—together with his detailed findings and additional context material. Some of this material can still be found on Palestinian Telegram channels.

This marks the first time this footage has been publicly presented in this form and properly analyzed.

The video was recorded on the morning of October 7 outside the gates of Al-Shifa Hospital.

As the Israeli military Jeep drives onto the hospital grounds, license plate 703-145 is visible for a brief moment. This further confirms that the exact same Jeep that left Nahal Oz with Israeli hostages was present at Al-Shifa.

The arrival is greeted by cheering crowds. Armed terrorists disembark from the vehicle and surround it to guard the hostages. Additional vehicles arrive. The footage reveals a striking contrast: outside, an enthusiastic crowd cheers while armed terrorists emerge to protect their loot; inside the vehicle, the Israeli hostages suffer terror, violence, and utter helplessness:

Young and older civilians, hospital support staff, onlookers from the hospital, terrorists in civilian clothes stepping out of the crowd, and armed terrorists hurrying over can all be identified. They all know what is happening at Al-Shifa Hospital that morning. They know what significance this hospital holds for Hamas.

The following video, showing four female hostages, was most likely recorded on the Al-Shifa Hospital grounds and shows this vehicle surrounded by a noisy crowd. It was uploaded to numerous Palestinian Telegram channels on October 7:

The abducted women are visible in the Jeep with license plate 703-145 at 0:05 min. Below the video is a screenshot featuring the young women from this video. Screenshots from this video show several features of the hospital grounds. More clearly recognizable is the ambulance** parked parallel to the Jeep (see photo below).

Thanks to subsequent disclosures by the IDF, we can now assign an exact timestamp to this moment.

The IDF CCTV Footage

On November 19, 2023, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari held a press conference in which he published stills from CCTV footage showing what he described as „stolen IDF vehicles“ entering Al-Shifa. The IDF had discovered this footage shortly beforehand on a laptop while searching Al-Shifa Hospital. The footage shows the exact same vehicles as the unique Palestinian video from October 7. The IDF image shows the two vehicles from the perspective of the Al-Shifa compound, while the three images below show the vehicles from the perspective of the street.

Based on this match, the arrival of the military Jeep from the Nahal Oz base at Al-Shifa can be dated to 10:53 a.m. on the morning of October 7—half an hour after the vehicles left the Nahal Oz base.

Given the attention and celebrations observed on site, and given the armed terrorists clearly guarding the vehicle, it is evident that hostages were inside the vehicle at this time.

Another Vehicle with Hostages at Al-Shifa: The Jeep Wrangler

Another vehicle of interest arrives earlier at Al-Shifa: a black Jeep Wrangler that matches the vehicle in which Naama Levy and Ori Megidish* were transported after their abduction from Nahal Oz.

At 11:30 a.m., footage of this vehicle was already circulating on Telegram. The location shown is clearly the Al-Shifa Hospital compound:

As the images below show, both vehicles are dark Jeep Wranglers configured for off-road use, each equipped with a raised snorkel air intake and a whip antenna mounted in front of the door—a distinctive combination that significantly reduces the probability of coincidence.

Since we know that the captured IDF Jeep carrying hostages from Nahal Oz was driven to Al-Shifa, the appearance of another vehicle carrying hostages at the hospital within the same timeframe is not surprising.

Furthermore, as in the other videos, the behavior of the bystanders is telling. Their concentrated attention on the vehicle and their apparent attempts to identify the occupants align with the arrival of another vehicle carrying hostages—very likely the vehicle transporting Naama Levy and Ori Megidish*.

The Hamas Command and Distribution Center

A second piece of deleted footage recorded by the same person on the access road to Al-Shifa Hospital reinforces the picture of Al-Shifa as a major Hamas operations center on the morning of October 7.

In this second clip, another stolen IDF vehicle and additional civilian passenger cars can be seen driving onto the hospital grounds.

A previously undiscovered photo by a well-known Palestinian photographer confirms that these vehicles actually drove onto the Al-Shifa compound.

There is visible evidence that hostages were inside all the vehicles. A frame-by-frame analysis supports this conclusion. Several hostages are briefly recognizable on the Al-Shifa compound.

However, the arrival of the military Jeep—along with other stolen military vehicles converging on the same location within a tight timeframe—is significant in its own right. Yet what is once again most significant is the behavior of the many Palestinians.

The scale of the incoming vehicles can no longer be overlooked. The evidence shows that multiple stolen IDF vehicles and other vehicles arrived at Al-Shifa within minutes of each other, where they were greeted by a large, cheering crowd. In total, approximately 16 different vehicles (including a motorcycle) can be identified. Dozens of hostages must have been transported into Al-Shifa.

The IDF later published additional CCTV material showing another stolen IDF Jeep arriving at Al-Shifa as early as 10:42 a.m.—just eleven minutes before the vehicle proven to be carrying hostages arrived at 10:53 a.m.

The evidence also shows that dozens of armed fighters were present at the hospital at this time. Taken together, these sequences place Al-Shifa at the center of events—as a command, meeting, and distribution hub within Hamas’s operational network on that morning.

In addition to the vehicles and hostages already documented, several further examples confirm that Al-Shifa played a central role in the capture and transport of hostages.

We know that Noa Marciano was held in close proximity to Al-Shifa before being brought back there, where she was brutally murdered by a „health professional.“

We also know that Ori Megidish was rescued from a nearby location.

Beyond these examples, footage shows another murdered Israeli hostage—likely Ran Gvili* (according to @NoaMagid on X)—being transported by a terrorist on a motorcycle from Kibbutz Alumim into Gaza (first image), and how he is then driven onto the Al-Shifa compound around midday, where his arrival is greeted by a cheering crowd (third image). In the second image, we see him with the body of Ran Gvili in Shifa-Ezz Eldine Al-Qassem on the way to the entrance of Al-Shifa. This photo is a screenshot from a video by a well-known cameraman from Gaza, who filmed this ride from his office.

Taken together, these images and findings confirm the pattern that already emerges from the footage of the two significant videos. They show Al-Shifa not merely as a transit point, but as a place where hostage-taking, detentions, and their aftermath repeatedly intersect.

Even if one leaves aside hostages abducted from other locations—such as Yehudit Weiss from Kibbutz Beeri, whose body was later found near Al-Shifa—the pattern emerging from Nahal Oz alone is striking. The destination is always Al-Shifa.

And another question arises: How many hostages were actually brought into Al-Shifa by Hamas and other terrorists within 2–3 hours on October 7—20, 40, 60? These two very important videos capture merely 80 to 90 seconds of the events. Together with the other videos and pictures from the 5 photographers known so far, other details emerge. They hint at what actually transpired on the Al-Shifa compound.

Another video shows the same 3 vehicles that stood in the photo with the red pavilion on the Al-Shifa compound leaving via Ez-Eldine Al-Qassam. They are driving in the opposite direction from which they came. This video was also found on the social media account of a Palestinian cameraman. Here is a screenshot from a WSJ article. Photographer of this photo: Mohammed Talatene (DPA).

Hit and Run

Shortly after October 7, Hamas published pictures of four young women from Nahal Oz. These were intended to show several things: look, we have the hostages, they are safe, and they are being cared for.

The preceding material does not actually show precisely what happened to the hostages on the Al-Shifa compound.

One possible explanation is that the hostages were quickly moved onward—possibly into the tunnel network under or near the hospital—and distributed to other locations.

A newly discovered photo makes another explanation more likely. Next to the Jeep carrying the young women, an ambulance parks briefly. It is briefly visible in some frames of the blurry video** above. Were these women transferred into this ambulance? A short time later, the ambulance is no longer visible. Did it take them to their guards‘ apartment?

This interpretation is supported by footage uploaded less than half an hour after the convoy’s arrival, showing the stolen IDF Jeep leaving Al-Shifa. By this point, it is unclear whether all hostages had been removed from the vehicle.

Video by a well-known Palestinian cameraman: The green military Jeep leaves the Al-Shifa compound

If hostages were still inside the vehicle when it sped away, there is no plausible reason to drive them to Al-Shifa unless the hospital was part of Hamas’s command structure. If they were not in the vehicle, who took them into custody on the hospital grounds if not an operational Hamas unit already present there? One thing, however, is certain: on October 7, Al-Shifa was a central organizational hub for Hamas. A newly surfaced photo also suggests that the Jeep drove back empty along the same route.

The Journalists, the Doctors, and Deliberate Deception

For more than two years, many international media outlets—especially German media—have downplayed Al-Shifa’s role in Hamas operations and disputed Israel’s claims that the hospital was more than a civilian medical facility. Throughout the coverage, Al-Shifa was consistently portrayed as isolated from Hamas activities and detached from the organization’s political and security infrastructure.

The events on the morning of October 7 tell a different story.

As these events unfolded, at least 12 journalists were present at Al-Shifa Hospital. Cameras were rolling. Live reports were broadcast from the hospital complex throughout the morning.

Yet despite the arrival of stolen military vehicles, armed terrorists, civilian cars carrying hostages, and large crowds celebrating their arrival, not a single journalist reported on the arrival of Israeli hostages at the hospital.

ARD contributor from Gaza, Mohammad Abu Saif, posted photos of his friends in Gaza on his Instagram account (more on this in the sequel to this article—see the note). His friends include one of those photographers who photographed and filmed the transfer of hostages into Al-Shifa on October 7.

Here we see him together with photographers Mohammed Talatene (left) and Mohannad Al Katheeb (right). Al Katheeb is currently in deportation detention in Greece. He is accused of having ties to Hamas and participating in October 7.

Neither this ARD contributor from Gaza nor the ARD studio in Tel Aviv reported on the events of October 7.

Another example is particularly flagrant. A series of photos published on the Rudaw channel (Rudaw, a private Kurdish television broadcaster) and the Rudaw webpage, taken by journalist Mohammed Salem, bear the caption: „Continuous transport of wounded Palestinians to the Shifa Medical Complex.“

The three distinct bullet holes in the windshield leave no doubt that this is the same Jeep that transported the hostages from Nahal Oz. The journalists present could see the crowds and the celebrations. They could see the armed terrorists surrounding the vehicle and knew exactly what was going on.

The report was published at 11:31 a.m. (1:31 p.m. Gaza local time) on the English Facebook page and website of Rudaw.net, a private Kurdish TV station, confirming that reporting was taking place in real time from the hospital grounds while hostages were present.

This was not a mistake made in hindsight. It was a deliberate misrepresentation.

Hospital staff also made themselves available to the media for interviews. Doctors and administrative staff provided commentary on the events at Al-Shifa Hospital, offering reassurances and accounts that were subsequently uncritically passed on by Western media.

These were the sources upon which a large portion of the international press relied in the first hours of the war. In doing so, however, they propagated false or misleading reports about events inside and outside the hospital.

Whether out of ideological alignment, fear, or coercion—what followed was not journalism, but intentional omission and distortion. The arrival of Israeli hostages at the heart of the Hamas stronghold at Al-Shifa Hospital was one of the most significant events on the morning of October 7—and it went unreported.

Until now.

Note

This is my German version of the article:

https://t.co/Ee5u4WH8oM

„Exclusive: October 7 – The al-Shifa Hospital Hostage Convoy“

Unfortunately, David Collier forgot to credit me as a co-author. This would have been appropriate, as the entire article is based primarily on my research. I had submitted my research up to that point on November 24, 2025, to the ICC as a PowerPoint file with all supporting evidence. For certain reasons, I have also rephrased and supplemented several parts. I would have liked, as journalistic standards dictate, to confront the individuals concerned with my research. Financial and logistical reasons prevented me from doing so. Parts of the article where I am uncertain have been marked with an asterisk (*). Uncertain here means I could not verify this 100%. Nevertheless, I think these additions should not be withheld.

I will soon publish a sequel entitled „The Photographers, the Media, and Al-Shifa – How Hamas Propaganda Worked.“

This article will examine in depth what actually happened at Al-Shifa on October 7. Numerous Palestinian photographers and cameramen photographed and filmed dozens of Israeli hostages being brought into Al-Shifa. Some of these recordings were sold to Western media with false descriptions. Nobody noticed this; no media outlet questioned these recordings. Therefore, several articles will also address the failure, especially of German media, in reporting on Gaza.

Wolfgang Tietze