Dozens of terrorists have been killed and around 300 others arrested by Israeli forces in Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital since the IDF launched a raid on the Gaza Strip's largest medical facility, the army reported Tuesday evening.
New documentation from the scene reveals weapons including an RPG anti-tank missile launcher, an AK-47 rifle, cartridges and bullets discovered in an office next to the hospital director's.
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IDF soldiers find weapons hidden in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The raid on the hospital in western Gaza City is being led by a 401st Brigade combat team, in cooperation with Shayetet 13 and Duvdevan Unit forces under the command of the 162nd Division and the Shin Bet.
"During the raid, we identified terrorists hiding in this area. We managed to eliminate several terrorists and find many weapons in the area. We will continue the operation until we finish it well and eliminate all the terrorists in the area," 932nd Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Dotan said.
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The forces arrested dozens of prominent Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists at the hospital who were involved in directing terrorist activity in the West Bank, active in propaganda efforts and part of Islamic Jihad's rocket unit, the IDF said.
The suspects are being interrogated on-site by field investigators from Unit 504 of the Intelligence Corps and are subsequently taken for further investigation by the unit and the Shin Bet in Israel.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians reported Tuesday evening that Nuseirat police chief Abu Al-Nour Al-Bayoumi was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the central Gaza Strip refugee camp’s UNRWA headquarters alongside several other people.
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Weapons found hidden outside the office of the Al Shifa Hospital director
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
According to reports, Hamas had tasked the refugee camp’s police chief with securing humanitarian aid truck convoys en route to Gaza City in the territory’s north.
Additionally, Gaza’s Liberators, a group opposing Hamas in Gaza, said that "Hamas police in Nuseirat had seized an aid truck, and the IDF attacked them from the air."
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit reported earlier on Tuesday that Warrant Officer (res.) Sebastian Haion, 51, from Rosh Haayin, a commander in the 401st Brigade, fell in clashes against terrorists in the Al Shifa Hospital.
On Monday, Staff Sergeant Matan Vinogradov, 20, a soldier from the Nahal Brigade's 932nd Battalion, from Jerusalem, was killed in fighting at the hospital.
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Fallen soldiers Sebastian Haion and Matan Vinogradov
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
During the raid on the hospital, many weapons and terrorist funds were found that were intended to be distributed to terrorist operatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The raid revealed envelopes filled with cash, marked "Congratulations on the effort," meant for terrorists.
"The place that Hamas terrorists thought was their hiding place and safe place quickly became a death trap in the Al Shifa area," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday.
"In this process, we took another step toward dismantling Hamas, another brick, another blow. It will continue and intensify until we eliminate the Hamas organization and everything it represents. There will be no military rule and there will be no capability of a Hamas military force in the Gaza Strip. It will take as long as it takes, we will eliminate this evil."