In the wake of the ongoing operation in Gaza City, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) entered Gaza's main hospital and carried out a raid on Wednesday morning, November 15. After having launched the raid in a significant escalation of its assault on the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the IDF confirmed that they had found concrete evidence, proving that Hamas stored weapons and military gear at the Al-Shifa medical complex.

According to a statement released by the IDF, they found weapons, ammunition, and technological assets, along with Hamas uniforms inside Gaza's largest medical facility. Along with that, IDF also claimed that the Hamas militants were running an ‘operational command centre’ inside the MRI Centre at the hospital.

The operation commenced before dawn and continued for the rest of Wednesday, during which the Israeli forces entered the Al-Shifa hospital and carried out room-by-room searches.

This came days after the fighting between the IDF and Hamas gunmen on the outskirts of the facility. The forces have been encircling the complex for several days since then. While the militants maintained a major operations command centre beneath the facility by keeping the patients, staff, and civilians trapped, the IDF also claimed that various Gaza hospitals and tunnels underneath them were used to conceal and support their military operations.

According to the IDF statement, as the troops continue their targeted operation against the Hamas militants, searches are still being carried out for Hamas infrastructure and assets.

A precise and targeted operation is being carried out against Hamas in a very specific area of the Shifa Hospital. We have soldiers trained specifically for this situation, and continue to reiterate we are ONLY at war with Hamas. We continue to do everything in our power to… pic.twitter.com/75t7YEncBk

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 15, 2023

Giving details on the same, military spokesman Daniel Hagari spoke to the media and confirmed that the troops have found weapons, intelligence material, technology, and equipment in the hospital. He also confirmed an operation headquarters with comms equipment belonging to Hamas militants.

Another video released by the IDF shows three duffel bags being found hidden around an MRI lab, each one of them containing an assault rifle, grenades, and Hamas uniforms. A laptop was also discovered on the site.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)

First Published:Nov 16, 2023 2:18 PM IST