Soldier killed as IDF raids Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, battles Hamas gunmen inside

[Social Media]

Military says it has ‘concrete intelligence’ terror operatives regrouped in Strip’s largest medical center; gunmen killed, dozens of suspects captured. 

 

The Israel Defense Forces early Monday morning launched a raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, amid intelligence that senior Hamas officials were in the area and using the hospital to plan and carry out terror activity, the military said.

One Israeli soldier was killed amid a gun battle with Hamas operatives in the area of the hospital before dawn.

The raid was launched at around 2:30 a.m., with troops of the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade and other units, including special forces and the Shin Bet security agency, encircling the hospital, the largest medical center in the Gaza Strip.

 

As troops arrived at the medical center, Hamas gunmen opened fire “from within the hospital compound,” the IDF and the Shin Bet said.

The troops returned fire, killing and wounding several gunmen, according to the IDF. The IDF later announced that Staff Sgt. Matan Vinogradov, 20, of the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, from Jerusalem, was killed in an exchange of fire in the area of Shifa Hospital.

 

The IDF released footage showing what it said were Hamas gunmen shooting at troops from the hospital premises and the nearby area. The footage also showed a roadside bomb being detonated against an Israeli armored vehicle, which the IDF said was activated by operatives at Shifa.

 

 

Israel’s intelligence indicated that Hamas operatives and commanders from the northern Gaza Strip recently arrived at the hospital premises to use the buildings as a command center command center to manage the fighting against IDF troops and carry out “terror activity.”

 

Several hours into the raid, the IDF said it had established control over the area, with troops surrounding several buildings at the Shifa complex while calling on Hamas members inside to come out and surrender.

 

Suspects were being questioned at the hospital by field interrogators of the Shin Bet and the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504. The IDF said that as of Monday morning, some 80 suspects had been detained by troops. The military claimed that some of those captured were confirmed terror operatives.

 

The IDF completed destroying the tunnels under Shifa in December. Hamas’s latest alleged activity at the hospital took place in its buildings and not tunnels, according to the IDF. Last month, the New York Times reported that a tunnel underneath Shifa was used extensively by Hamas for military operations and is nearly twice as long as the IDF had previously revealed.

 

Top Hamas operative killed in hospital raid, army says

The IDF says troops killed a senior Hamas operative during this morning’s raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.

Faiq Mabhouh, who served as the head of operations in Hamas’s internal security force, was armed and hiding inside the Shifa complex, “from which he was working to advance terror activity,” the IDF says. Mabhouh was killed amid an exchange of fire during an attempt to arrest him, the IDF says.

 

In a nearby room, the IDF says troops recovered a cache of weapons. Mabhouh, according to the IDF and Shin Bet, was responsible for the “synchronization” of various Hamas units in the Gaza Strip, including during the war. As head of operations for internal security, he played a key role in a secret police force largely engaged in quashing political dissent within the Strip, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations.

 

19.03.24

Source

 

[thaibeachlovers]

If the IDF want to be taken seriously, they need to allow independent news crews access, but of course they won't.

 

The Al Jazeera report I saw painted a very different picture from the one put out by the IDF.

Edited March 19 by thaibeachlovers

[Bkk Brian]

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If the IDF want to be taken seriously, they need to allow independent news crews access, but of course they won't.

 

The Al Jazeera report I saw painted a very different picture from the one put out by the IDF.

I guess the AJ report missed out all the Hamas terrorists they killed and captured.

 

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1769708756604993733

 

[Neeranam]

Interesting that one Israelis soldier's death hits the news........  

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Interesting that one Israelis soldier's death hits the news........  

Why is that....?  🤔

[Brickleberry]

9 hours ago, Social Media said:

Top Hamas operative killed in hospital raid, army says

The IDF says troops killed a senior Hamas operative during this morning’s raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.

Faiq Mabhouh, who served as the head of operations in Hamas’s internal security force, was armed and hiding inside the Shifa complex, “from which he was working to advance terror activity,” the IDF says. Mabhouh was killed amid an exchange of fire during an attempt to arrest him, the IDF says.

 

This one is confusing. Several western media outlets (AP, CNN, CH 4, BBC) have all noted that this man was one of the most senior police officers:

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-03-18-2024-eefc526aec97821fe5f1e845801a6640

 

Quote

The Israeli military said troops killed 20 people it identified as Hamas militants, and one of its own soldiers was killed, though the identification of the dead as militants could not be confirmed. Among those killed was a senior commander in Gaza’s Hamas-led police forces who Israel said was hiding in the hospital. Gaza officials said the commander was coordinating protection of aid convoys.

 

Yes, the police are controlled by Hamas, as are all government services, but this doesn't mean he was a valid target. Many of these publications have pointed out that Israel seems to be targeting the police forces, while the UN and UNRWA have put out statements supporting this opinion. Just because someone is on the governments payroll, does not mean they are part of the military wing.

Edited March 19 by Brickleberry

[coolcarer]

43 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Interesting that one Israelis soldier's death hits the news........  

Keep up fella. The tally from the hospital raid currently is 1 IDF death to 40 Hamas terrorists, lovely jubbly.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-troops-raid-gaza-citys-shifa-hospital-battle-hamas-members-holed-up-inside/

[thaibeachlovers]

21 hours ago, Brickleberry said:

 

This one is confusing. Several western media outlets (AP, CNN, CH 4, BBC) have all noted that this man was one of the most senior police officers:

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-03-18-2024-eefc526aec97821fe5f1e845801a6640

 

 

Yes, the police are controlled by Hamas, as are all government services, but this doesn't mean he was a valid target. Many of these publications have pointed out that Israel seems to be targeting the police forces, while the UN and UNRWA have put out statements supporting this opinion. Just because someone is on the governments payroll, does not mean they are part of the military wing.

If the plan is as I suspect, which is to render the Palestinians leaderless, which makes them easier to control, then every government official becomes a target, and it's so easy to say, without any proof, that they were Hamas fighters ( as, of course, they are Hamas, but that does not make them fighters ).