The IDF announced Monday night that it found traces of two hostages on the grounds of the Indonesian Hospital near Jabalya in northern Gaza.
According to the IDF, a yellow Toyota Corolla found in an internal hospital area belonged to Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 massacre. Talalka was one of three hostages mistakenly shot by IDF troops on December 15.
Additionally, blood traced to an unspecified hostage was found inside that vehicle along with pieces of a rocket-propelled grenade.
An Israeli vehicle taken on October 7 found in Gaza's Indonesian Hospital (IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
The IDF announced as well on Monday that two more soldiers fell in battles in Gaza: Sgt. Rani Tamir, 20, and St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Nitai Meisels, 30. Tamir, from Ganei Am, served in the 50th Battalion of the Nahal Brigade and was killed in a battle in northern Gaza. Meisels, from Rehovot, was a soldier in the Armored Corps and was killed in a battle in northern Gaza as well.
The IDF did not provide information about what intelligence it might have regarding Hamas’s handling of the second hostage, but said that these findings, along with another vehicle found on the hospital grounds that was used in the October 7 attacks, tied the hospital directly to Hamas and the massacre.
Previously, the IDF had disclosed videos showing two different hostages being taken into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
The military said that the Indonesian Hospital had been used by Hamas as a meeting and organization place for its terror and military activities. It added that armed Hamas forces had been observed there during the current war.
Tunnels in hospital vicinity
Like with Shifa, the IDF found tunnels in the close vicinity of the hospital, which allowed Hamas forces to come to and leave the hospital grounds without being tracked.
Further, the IDF added that the hospital’s dealings with Hamas limited its ability to handle more patients.
Unlike Shifa and Rantisi, where the IDF found large volumes of diverse weapons, the army did not state that there were weapons present or display any.
It was unclear when the IDF believed that Hamas forces fled the area, including cleaning out any weapons stores that might have been there.
Forces also found dozens of explosive devices hidden inside UNRWA bags during a raid of northern Gaza schools, where the IDF received intelligence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists hiding.
Forces from the IDF’s Nahal Brigade raided the Al Rafaa and Zavaha schools in the areas of Daraj and Tuffah, where they also found a host of Kalashnikov rifles and 15 explosive belts ready for use.
During an exchange of fire with terrorists in the area, a cell fired an anti-tank missile at Israeli troops, the IDF said, before being eliminated with a precision strike missile.
The military released footage of the terror cell firing the missile before being gunned down by an IDF tank.
The IDF said that many terrorists affiliated with both Hamas and PIJ were located hiding inside the Gazan schools and later detained.
Some of them took part in the October 7 massacre of southern Israeli towns, the military added. They were taken into Israeli territory to be interrogated.
The combat team of the 4th Brigade has operated in recent weeks to clear areas of Khan Yunis and establish an operational hold on key junctions within the area. The soldiers have carried out precision raids, eliminating dozens of terrorists and destroying about 100 targets.
The forces also destroyed dozens of Hamas tunnels.
Amid the fighting, the soldiers, along with those from the Yahalom Unit, uncovered the lathe used to produce weapons and a concrete factory used to build tunnels, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said on Monday. After raiding the site, engineering forces destroyed the compound.
A stockpile of weapons found by the soldiers was also destroyed.
Separately, an IDF commander in Golani’s 51st Brigade was dismissed from his role after endangering Israeli forces fighting in Gaza City’s Shejaia neighborhood, N12 reported on Monday evening.
According to the report, the company commander was dismissed and replaced by another commander after ordering soldiers to enter homes in the area despite fears over the houses being booby-trapped, in an incident that occurred some three weeks ago.
There were no casualties in the incident, as per N12.
In addition, rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel remained in single-digit numbers on Monday, having also been in low numbers the day before.
There have been a few days of heavier rocket fire, but for the most part, the rocket fire from Gaza has dropped steeply since the IDF invaded southern Gaza nearly four weeks ago.