Israeli soldiers and Gaza medical workers capture 20 Hamas terrorists hiding in hospital
Israeli troops have captured about 20 Hamas terrorists who were hiding inside a Khan Younis hospital in Gaza — with the Jewish army aided by medical staff waiting on a delivery of oxygen tanks, officials say.
Several of the Israel Defense Forces’ special units were deployed to the Al-Amal Hospital in last week after intelligence suggested Hamas members were operating inside the civilian space, according to the Israeli military Saturday.
With the assistance of the Al-Amal Hospital staff, the soldiers were able to locate the terrorists and subdue them without firing a shot or disrupting any medical procedures.
“This operation once again proves the cynical modus operandi of the Hamas terror organization, which uses hospitals and the civilian population to hide terrorists,” the IDF said in a statement.
The Hamas members were taken into custody and transported to Israel for questioning, the military added.
After the arrests, the IDF worked with the Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza to deliver more than 20 oxygen tanks donated to the hospital.
The IDF noted that before the operation, its troops were briefed on “the importance of preventing harm to patients, medical staff, civilians, and medical equipment, in accordance with international law.”
As with other medical facilities located across Gaza, Al-Amal hospital has been struggling to care for its patients as the conflict from Israel and Hamas have left tens of thousands of people injured.
Nearly 68,000 people have been wounded by the war so far, with the death toll in Gaza surpassing 28,000, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The arrests in Al-Amal hospital were just some of hundreds over the past week in Khan Younis, which continues to see the most intense fighting in the war.
Follow along with The Post’s coverage of Israel’s war with Hamas
- Hamas chief says a ‘truce agreement’ and hostage exchange with Israel is close
- Hamas captives spill secrets about operating from hospitals: ‘We became their human shields’
- How many aid groups knew Hamas was hiding in a hospital and lied about it?
- Israel war live updates: Follow along for The Post’s latest coverage
With the IDF advancing across Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who escaped from the north have since fled even further south to Rafah.
Rafah, now Gaza’s most populous city housing more than 1.4 million refugees, could see unprecedented levels of loss of civilian life as the IDF prepares to invade it to destroy Hamas terrorists and try to locate the 136 hostages remaining in Gaza.
On Saturday, 43 Palestinians were killed in an airstrike in Rafah that took out Iman Rantisi, a senior Hamas police official.
President Biden cautioned Israel on Sunday not to proceed into the southern Gazan city of Rafah “without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there.”
