Copyright: Reuters
This week Israeli troops returned to al-Shifa – Gaza’s biggest hospital – with the Israeli military saying it had “concrete intelligence” of Hamas operatives having regrouped there.
Israeli military said it had killed “over 140 terrorists” in ongoing fighting at al-Shifa and to have made some 600 arrests, including dozens of top Hamas commanders as well as some from Islamic Jihad.
Israeli reports suggest that in recent weeks the army found that senior Hamas figures had resumed operations at al-Shifa and that some even took their families to the hospital. The IDF says it uncovered arms caches and a large quantity of cash at the site.
Hamas has denied that its fighters were based there and claims that those killed were wounded patients and displaced people.
Four months ago, the same hospital was stormed by soldiers, who said it was being used as cover for a Hamas command and control centre.
While Hamas has undoubtedly been severely weakened by the war, there have been signs that it has been trying to restore its governing capability. There’s worry too from the US that Israel does not have an adequate strategy to dismantle the organisation.
On top of that, there has long been talk of a military operation in Rafah, in the far-south of the country, which Israel insists it must carry out to win the war with Hamas.
The thought of such an offensive is something that has caused international concern, particularly over the impact it could have on the millions of Gazans now displaced there.
- You can read more about the latest raid on al-Shifa, and what it shows about Hamas’s capabilities here.