Journalists were given unrestricted access to the Sahel General Hospital in Beirut’s southern suburbs after the Israeli military claimed a Hezbollah money and gold stash was hidden in a bunker underneath the building.
A BBC journalist reporting from the hospital’s basement levels said the staff opened any doors and cabinets the reporters wanted to open. Journalists were also able to explore anywhere in the building on their own, and no evidence of a Hezbollah money stash was found.
Israel first made the claim in a video on Monday night, prompting the hospital to evacuate patients over fears they would be bombed. “We were here at the hospital working, treating patients, and then the video came out,” Dr. Omar Mneimne, who works at the hospital, told The National. “Obviously, we [have been] living in terror for the past 24 hours.”
In response to the press access to the hospital, the Israeli military claimed the entrance to the Hezbollah bunker was in an adjacent building. According to The National, journalists accessed the building and saw a parking bay with empty boxes and two locked doors.
According to DW, the owner of the hospital, Fadi Alameh, a member of Lebanon’s parliament, has strongly denied the Israeli claims and invited the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers to tour the hospital.
The hospital is located in the Dahieh suburb, which has been flattened by heavy Israeli airstrikes. On Monday, Israeli strikes hit near another hospital in Beirut, killing at least 18 people, including four children.
