Jerusalem:
Israeli forces have found weapons and “terror infrastructure” during an ongoing raid on the Al Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, a senior military official said on Wednesday.
He did not specify what had been found or provide any visual evidence, but said this would be presented later.
The official, who asked not to be named, told reporters that there had been no fighting in the hospital complex after the soldiers arrived overnight, and that there had been no friction with medical staff or patients.
He did not say where the soldiers were operating, but indicated they were in a different part of the site than where medics and patients were.
“IDF soldiers have already found weapons and other terror infrastructure. In the past hour, we have seen concrete evidence that Hamas terrorists have used Shifa Hospital as a terror headquarters,” the official said.
Hamas denied this.
“(This claim) is nothing but a continuation of the lies and cheap propaganda through which (Israel) tries to justify its crime aimed at destroying the health sector in Gaza,” Hamas said in a statement.
The Israeli official said soldiers had carried out “a highly precise and targeted operation” and did not say how long it would last. “Our soldiers are making slow and deliberate progress based on our intelligence,” he said.
Israelis have said for years that Hamas militants have used Al Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, as a cover for their operations. Hamas and hospital staff have repeatedly denied this.
The military official said four militants were killed in a firefight outside Al Shifa as Israeli soldiers tried to enter the complex. He added that soldiers had interrogated individuals found in the area they were searching.
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