Operation Gaza: Israeli Forces Neutralize 200 Palestinian Militants in Hospital Standoff

Defense News ,Israel :-  Israeli soldiers continued operations against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists holed up in Gaza City's Shifa Hospital and in Khan Yunis," said the Israel Defense Forces on Thursday morning. "We returned to the hospital, Gaza's largest, after receiving intelligence that senior Hamas figures were inside the compound planning attacks. Since entering the compound on March 18, we have killed over 200 terrorists and detained 800 terror suspects, of whom at least 500 have been confirmed as members of the Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups."

"As part of the operation, patients were moved to a designated area inside the Shifa compound for their safety," added the IDF. "Civilians and staff have not been harmed."

"The Press Service of Israel reported that in one of the hospital buildings, Hamas established a small government administration center with representatives of the government ministries, especially the ministries of education, interior, treasury, and the police," the IDF spokesperson explained. "On the day that Israeli forces entered the compound, Hamas was about to pay salaries to hundreds of its civil and military officials. Salaries range from USD 200 to hundreds of dollars."

"In Khan Yunis, soldiers continued operations against terror infrastructure in the Al Amal and Al Qarara neighborhoods, seizing explosives and mortar shells," the IDF stated.

"In central Gaza, a Hamas squad spotted adjacent to Israeli forces was eliminated by aircraft," the IDF confirmed.

"Elsewhere in Gaza, fighter jets struck several tunnel shafts and an underground rocket launcher," the IDF spokesperson added.

"At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7," the IDF reported. "Of the remaining 134 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead."