The IDF released new footage on Tuesday that shows the interrogation of a Hamas terrorist who was arrested at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
Anas Muhammad Faiz al-Sharif was captured during an operation by the 401st Brigade and Unit 504 near the hospital and transferred to Israel for questioning.
During his interrogation, Sharif outlined his role within Hamas and revealed how it uses the hospital as a base for operations.
He disclosed that hospital grounds were used to transport equipment and weapons for launching attacks against Israeli forces. Sharif, 21, who joined Hamas in 2021, is one of 240 terrorists who were apprehended in the area surrounding the hospital.
“Weapons were moved in and out of the hospital for ambushes and tunnels,” he said. The IDF emphasized that intelligence from these arrests has proven critical for ongoing operations.
Sharif also said Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives believed the IDF would avoid targeting the hospital because of the presence of patients and civilians.
“They believe the army can’t bomb the location, like with an F-16 missile, or destroy the building,” he explained.
The raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital
The operation, which took place on December 29, was targeted against Hamas’s latest attempt to reconstitute itself in northern Gaza, largely embedded within the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalya.
In the weeks prior, the IDF had already started clearing improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of the hospital as well as in most of the pathways and potential escape routes to and from it.
Moreover, the IDF engaged in three to four targeted attacks on smaller Hamas cells near the hospital but was careful to avoid attacking the hospital itself. This was all part of an IDF strategy to lull the terrorists hiding in the hospital into a false sense of security.
When the IDF finally attacked on Friday, it needed only an hour to surround all routes to and from the hospital to lock down and block any terrorist escape attempts.
There was a short initial battle between Hamas terrorists and IDF soldiers, but all terrorists were quickly killed. Two groups of terrorists also tried to escape in different directions but were killed by IDF forces surrounding them.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.