The renewed IDF operation to enter Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has proved fruitful, with 70 terrorists killed and 300 suspects arrested, of which 130 are known terror operatives. Still, the operation isn't over quite yet, with estimates saying it will take a few more days.
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One detainee said he waited for the right time to make his way from the eastern edge of Gaza City to the western edge, where he took refuge in a hospital close to the beach. After the IDF's 401st Brigade destroyed all the terror tunnels under the hospital, he escaped from there along with other terrorists and Hamas commanders.
Video from IDF operations in al-Shifa
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
After being apprehended, the detainee was questioned by the 504th intelligence unit and asked whether he expected the IDF to return to the hospital. "If I had known, I wouldn't be here," he said. "The night I heard the tanks and APCs outside, I realized the only way I get out of here is as a prisoner or dead."
Taking control of Al Shifa seems to be a matter of strategic importance and, with no one capable of maintaining control of the hospital other than IDF and Hamas, it has become a tug-of-war between the two sides. In the Gaza offensive's second act, about 70% of Hamas forces in the northern section of the enclave have been either killed or severely wounded, and IDF forces are back at the hospital to take care of the remaining 30% that are trying to assert dominance.
Shayetet fighters taking on Hamas
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The operation to retake Al Shifa was planned down to the minute, with forces of the 162nd Division obtaining vital intelligence as to exactly when Hamas operatives nestled inside would be in a reduced state of alertness. Shayetet 13 naval commandos arrived on location at around 1:30 a.m., and infiltrated the area unnoticed. APCs took up strategic positions and then positioned themselves in critical chokepoints, preventing all possible escape routes for Hamas.
Inside, the 401st Brigade found laptops and documents, along with AK-47s and RPGs. Some Hamas terrorists pretended to be patients and doctors, and the IDF is still in the process of ascertaining the identity and possible affiliation of every person inside, but taking over the hospital also means assuming the responsibility of feeding everyone, which is why the IDF came prepared with food and various types of medical supplies, and erected the type of fortifications required to assume long-term control of hospital operations.
First published: 11:45, 03.20.24