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Tel Aviv [Israel], March 31 (ANI/TPS): Israeli soldiers killed Hamas terrorists holed up in Gaza's Shifa Hospital compound as operations to root out gunmen and operatives continued, the Israel Defense Forces said. The IDF noted that many were killed in close-quarters combat.
Israel returned to the hospital, Gaza's largest, after receiving intelligence that senior Hamas figures were inside the compound planning attacks. Since entering the compound on March 18, Israel has killed over 200 terrorists and detained 800 terror suspects, of whom at least 500 have been confirmed as members of the Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups. Forces have also seized large amounts of weapons and intelligence. The Press Service of Israel reported that in one of the hospital buildings, Hamas established a small government administration center with representatives of the government ministries, especially the ministries of education, interior, treasury and the police. On the day that Israeli forces entered the compound, Hamas was about to pay salaries to hundreds of its civil and military officials. As part of the operation, patients were moved to a designated area inside the Shifa compound for their safety. The IDF said civilians and staff have not been harmed. Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force struck approximately 80 terror targets across the Gaza Strip, including Hamas military compounds, tunnel shafts, rocket-launching positions and other terror infrastructure. In northern Gaza's Rimal area, several of the sites hit by airstrikes were compounds used by Hamas snipers and for launching anti-tank missiles. In central Gaza, over 15 terrorists were eliminated over the past day. In one incident, a terrorist cell that was identified exiting a tunnel shaft and approaching a military compound near IDF troops was struck and eliminated by an IDF fighter jet. In a separate incident, a terrorist cell approaching IDF soldiers was eliminated by precise sniper fire. In the Al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Yunis, soldiers dismantled several terror infrastructure sites, including positions from which Hamas fired rockets at troops. In other activities, approximately 15 terrorists were eliminated by precise sniper fire and mortar shell launches. At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the remaining 134 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead. (ANI/TPS)
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