Israel SitRep: March 25, 2024

Today’s Issue: IDF Spokesman: Shifa Hospital Operation “One of the Most Successful Operations” Since Start of War | At Shifa Hospital, IDF Has Arrested Some 500 Hamas and PIJ Members | IDF Launches Operations in Al-Amal Neighborhood in Khan Younis | IDF and Border Police Arrest Seven Overnight in West Bank Operations | Latest FDD Analysis

IDF Spokesman: Shifa Hospital Operation “One of the Most Successful Operations” Since Start of War: In a Sunday press briefing, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari gave an update on day six of the IDF’s Shifa Hospital operation, stating that 170 terrorists who shot at Israeli forces in or around the hospital have been “neutralized” and that the army has captured “hundreds of terror suspects with confirmed ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad,” many of them “involved in planning and executing” the October 7 attacks. The spokesman said that “Hamas is destroying Shifa hospital,” noting specifically that Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists are barricading themselves inside the wards; that Hamas is firing from the maternity ward and emergency room and is throwing explosive devices from the burn unit; and that terrorists who hid in the hospital shot mortars at IDF soldiers, causing “extensive damage” to buildings. Hagari noted that the army brought more than 10,000 units of medications to the hospital, hundreds of medical supplies, and food and water. He added that when the hospital generator failed as a result of Hamas attacks, IDF troops helped restore electricity. According to Hagari, the operation, which is not yet over, is one of the most successful IDF operations since the war began.

At Shifa Hospital, IDF Has Arrested Some 500 Hamas and PIJ Members: On Monday, the IDF announced that in its operations at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, soldiers have so far arrested some 500 operatives who have been verified to be members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In a report on the Shifa operation published on Sunday, the IDF stated that troops from the 401st Brigade found a large number of weapons in the hospital, made arrests, and killed terrorists. The report includes a description and footage of an incident in which soldiers from the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion conducted a search in a building near the hospital, from which shots had been fired. When they reached the fourth floor, a terrorist threw grenades at them and the soldiers returned fire, then continued searching the building. Shortly afterward, while the troops were on the lower floors, the same man threw grenades at them from the fourth floor, and as he was coming down the stairs, they shot and killed him.

IDF Launches Operations in Al-Amal Neighborhood in Khan Younis: On Saturday night, the IDF, led by the 98th Brigade, launched a new operation in the al-Amal neighborhood in western Khan Younis, which the army left several weeks ago. The operation, undertaken after Hamas renewed operations there, is aimed at continuing to dismantle terror infrastructure and eliminate terrorists. The operation began with an attack by Israeli Air Force fighter jets, which destroyed some 40 terror targets, including military buildings and tunnels. Troops from the 7th Brigade, the Givati Brigade, and the Commando Brigade were working to encircle the area and killed terrorists in close combat. IDF soldiers also raided al-Amal Hospital, where the Paratrooper Brigade previously operated, conducting searches but without exchanges of fire. The local population is being evacuated from the area. On Monday, the IDF reported that more than 20 terrorists had been killed in the past day in the al-Amal area by airstrikes and by soldiers.

IDF and Border Police Arrest Seven Overnight in West Bank Operations: The IDF and Border Police operated overnight in the West Bank, arresting seven. In the village of Arabbuna, soldiers from the Sayeret Haruv special forces unit shot at two terrorists who hurled explosive devices toward them, hitting them. In another operation in the area, troops arrested three wanted men in the village of Jalbun and one wanted man in the village of Shuweika. During operations in Al-Khader, troops arrested a man suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail, and in Kalandiya, soldiers arrested another two wanted men. Some 3,600 wanted persons have been arrested since the start of the war, about 1,600 of them members of Hamas.

Latest FDD Analysis:

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