Gaza hospital raid: Israeli army kills senior Hamas commander, arrests 80 suspects

The Israeli army raided the biggest hospital in Gaza on Monday morning, killing a senior Hamas commander and arresting 80 suspects. 

The operation began at around 02:30AM, with the IDF saying it was based on intelligence information indicating the use of the Al Shifa hospital by senior Hamas terrorists” who later opened fire at the troops from hospital compound. The troops responded with live fire and “hits were identified.”

The Israeli soldiers killed Faiq Mabhuoch, head of the Operations Directorate of Hamas’ Internal Security who was also responsible for coordination of Hamas terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip.

“Faiq Mabhouh was eliminated in an encounter with the troops while armed and hiding in a compound at the Shifa hospital, from which he operated and advanced terrorist activity. Numerous weapons were located in the room adjacent to where he was eliminated,” the IDF said.

Israeli soldier Matan Vinogradov, 20, was also killed during the IDF operations near the hospital.

IDF also ordered civilians and patients sheltering in hospital to evacuate hours after the operation began, saying the Head of the Coordination and Liasion Administration (CLA) for Gaza spoke with the Director of the Hamas-run Ministry of Health about the Hamas activities within the Shifa hospital, and “the necessity to thwart them, in full coordination with the hospital’s administration.”

The army released video footage of what it said was proof that Hamas terrorists were firing toward Israeli soldiers from within the Al-Shifa compound.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry denied the allegations, saying Israel “fabricated narratives” to justify its “war crime.”

Al-Shifa became a focal point of Israel’s invasion of Gaza following the October 7 massacre, as the IDF said Hamas was operating from the compound, both above and underground.

Israel later found a vast tunnel network under the hospital, proving Hamas’ illegal use of the compound for military activities.

In November last year, the EU condemned the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields by Hamas as the IDF was operating in and near the hospital.

Numerous journalists and media over the years have also confirmed that Hamas is using hospitals for military purposes, while several released Israeli hostages said they were kept at hospitals at some point during their captivity in Gaza.