IDF, Shin Bet Launch New Raid on Shifa Hospital
After signaling a limited military incursion into Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the Israeli Defense Forces claims that as of Monday morning, it has asserted control over the medical complex.
In a video message released late Sunday evening, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari explained that a “high-precision operation” was being executed in coordination with Israel’s Shin Bet security agency in and around the facility after receiving “concrete intelligence” indicating that senior Hamas fighters had regrouped and were operating out of the hospital.
Israeli military officials have reiterated that no civilians, patients, or medical staff are being required to leave and that special precautions are being taken, given the sensitivity of the mission.
The IDF said on Monday that its forces were fired upon “from within the hospital” upon approaching the facility overnight. A video ostensibly showing gunfire coming from the medical complex was also released.
The video also includes footage of a roadside explosive going off near an Israeli armored vehicle. The IDF alleges the bomb was planted and activated by Hamas operatives based out of Shifa.
The IDF says that multiple Hamas fighters were killed or wounded in the firefights, while another 80 or so suspects have so far been detained. One Israeli soldier was reportedly lightly wounded.
Leading up to and during the operation at Shifa, the IDF’s Arabic-language communication unit has encouraged residents living near the hospital to evacuate along coastal roads to the al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” in southwest Gaza.
