The IDF’s reinvasion of Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza started around 2:30 a.m. early Monday morning and included a mix of IDF Division 162 regular infantry, armor, special forces, the Shin Bet, and IDF intelligence collection Unit 504.
Although the IDF said it achieved surprise on a group of terrorists who had returned to Shifa, it said it had both given a general warning to the medical staff there and had been following the return of terrorists for a long time.
More specifically, the IDF said it had planned the operation for a number of days, waiting for the right timing when they could most catch Hamas off guard.
Other than that this was a time when more terrorists had returned to Shifa, including some commanders, the IDF did not explain why taking over the hospital during Ramadan and heated criticism from the US over the humanitarian situation was smart strategic timing.
◾ تغطية صحفية: “:حزام ناري كثيف وقذائف صاروخية بشكل هستيري محيط مستشفى الشفاء.” pic.twitter.com/jkhqikJMdK
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) March 18, 2024
It appeared that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was updated about the operation, but not the full cabinet.
IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari discusses a new IDF operation in Shifa Hospital in Gaza. March 18, 2024 (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
There were no indications from the IDF that any members of the Hamas high command had been killed, wounded, or targeted, but the IDF said that several or more unidentified Hamas terrorists had been killed. Their identities were still unclear.
There were also no indications that any hostages had been freed.
Initial indications were that one IDF soldier was wounded.
Rather, the IDF said it had arrested around 80 persons, some of whom are Hamas. The IDF is currently distinguishing who is among Hamas and who is a civilian or medical staff.
The IDF said that there was no information to indicate that Hamas had used terror tunnels as in November.
Hamas operating from within Shifa Hospital itself
Rather, this time, they had stayed within the Shifa buildings themselves.
Operationally, the IDF said it approached several different facilities in the sprawling Shifa complex simultaneously to prevent the terrorists from escaping from any of them.
Shooting took place in multiple different rooms in the complex, and there are currently ongoing operations there with the IDF searching room to room for additional concealed terrorists.
Over the past few hours, IDF soldiers identified terrorist fire toward them from a number of hospital buildings. The forces engaged the terrorists and identified several hits.
Fire towards IDF troops in the area of the Shifa hospital, March 18, 2024 (credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit).
The IDF said it also had and is using drones and special technologies to try to gain military advantages over concealed terrorists.
Further, air force support has been nearby to intervene should any Hamas reinforcements try to engage.
The IDF said that Hamas was trying to return Shifa to its status as a Hamas command center.
In December 2023, former Gaza City Shifa Hospital Director Muhammad Abu Salmiya had a hearing before an unidentified Israeli civilian Magistrate’s Court via video conference, in which his detention was extended, sources told The Jerusalem Post at the time.
There has been no update about his status since, including on Monday during an IDF briefing.
The Shin Bet was criminally probing Abu Salmiya under current war emergency regulations relating to Hamas and other terrorists connected to the war.
As part of those regulations, Abu Salmiya had been prevented from meeting with a lawyer.
Though sources did not identify the civilian court, traditionally, the Beersheba courts have handled various Gazan terror cases.
For weeks in November, the Post had only been hinted to informally by some sources that he remained in Shin Bet custody, with the IDF legal division, the Shin Bet, the Justice Ministry, and the police all declining to comment on the record.
The IDF and the Shin Bet announced his arrest on November 23, but since then have given no official update.
Under standard rules in Israeli civilian courts, the state must generally file an indictment within a certain number of days or, in exceptional circumstances, within a few weeks in order to justify keeping a suspect in detention.
When the IDF took over Shifa in mid-November, it was without firing a shot, partially because the IDF allowed around 200 Hamas terrorists to escape the area along with thousands of civilians before it went in.
Despite that restraint, the IDF and Israel were lambasted for taking over the hospital and allegedly causing the death of many infants and other patients by virtue of the siege itself hampering medical operations.
Israel has also been attacked in general for taking over hospitals in Gaza.
It has responded by saying it has no choice when Hamas uses hospitals as command centers systematically.
The IDF has added that it still uses restrictive rules of engagement in hospital areas.
The Israeli forces who entered the area received special training and were briefed in advance about the importance of avoiding harm to patients, civilians, medical staff, and medical equipment. Arabic speakers are accompanying the forces in order to facilitate dialogue with the patients at the hospital. Patients and staff are not being ordered to evacuate.
The IDF and Shin Bet said later that they were working together in the hospital, adding that while Israeli forces were encircling the complex, terrorists hiding in the hospital fired at the forces.
IDF to facilitate humanitarian efforts during operation.
The IDF continuing humanitarian efforts in the area
The IDF will also continue humanitarian efforts in the area, bringing food, water, and medical supplies to the hospital. IDF doctors are also present to provide assistance.
“Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza,” stressed Hagari. “We seek no harm to the civilians that Hamas is hiding behind.”
“We call upon all Hamas terrorists hiding in hospitals to surrender immediately. Medical facilities should never be exploited for terror. Hamas must be held accountable,” concluded the IDF spokesperson.
Palestinian media reported intensive armed clashes between Palestinian terrorists and Israeli forces in the hospital complex shortly before the IDF statement was published.
“The IDF will continue to act in accordance with international law and against the Hamas terrorist organization – which operates from hospitals and civilian infrastructure in a systematic and cynical way, without the distinction between the civilian population and the organization’s terrorists,” said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
IDF warns Gaza Health Ministry to kick Hamas out of hospitals
The head of the Defense Ministry’s Coordination and Liasion Administration (CLA) for Gaza spoke with the director of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry in recent days about the activities of Hamas terrorists in Shifa, warning him that these operations must stop.
“We have warned of these activities in the past and see that the Hamas terror organization is continuing its military activity inside hospitals and that there are terror operatives in the heart of hospitals,” said the CLA head. “I have told you before, and I will tell you again, we are willing to provide any humanitarian aid needed, be it gas, food supplies, medical supplies, and medicine – to help with the operation of the hospitals – just as we have done in the past.”
Dr. Youssef Abu Rish told the CLA head, “I promise you we are on the same page.”
“Hospitals need to be places that provide services, and no one should harm the patients of the provision of the medical services inside these hospitals,” added Abu Rish.
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