IDF launches attack on Islamic Jihad HQ inside central Gaza hospital

IDF soldiers and the air force supported by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) attacked a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operational headquarters located in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, according to an IDF statement on Sunday.

The attack was precise and left the hospital undamaged and operational, "Regular operations were not affected," the IDF said.

IDF chief of staff at Shifa Hospital: 'We achieved a major goal'

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi arrived at Shifa Hospital on Friday, where he held an assessment of ongoing operations with the commander of the IDF's Southern Command, Colonel Yaron Finkleman, the commander of the 162nd Division Lieutenant Colonel Itzik Cohen, and commander of Shayetet 13, lieutenant colonel "A," along with other senior IDF commanders.

Halevi stated, "After two weeks, we carried out a successful operation. To carry out something of this scale during a war is very complex.

"We are doing everything possible to prevent harm to patients and medical teams. The fact that this operation saw no harm to a single medical staff member or patient, but we were able to kill and capture many, many terrorists is a very significant achievement."

On Saturday, the IDF killed senior Hamas leaders Ra'ad Thabad, one of the highest ranked Hamas officials killed in Gaza to date other than Hamas’s No. 3 Marwan Issa, as well as Mahmoud Khalil Ziqzouq, deputy head of the rocket unit in Gaza City, and several others.

Since the beginning of the operation at Shifa Hospital, around two hundred terrorists have been killed. Over 800 suspects were found, with over 500 confirmed to be Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad members.

In addition, the IDF revealed on Sunday that out of 598 IDF soldiers who have died since October 7, and 254 who have died as part of the ground invasion of Gaza, 39 soldiers have been killed by friendly fire or accidents.

This means that around 15% of Gaza invasion soldier deaths were from friendly fire or accidents.

Further, the IDF provided an update that 3,181 soldiers have been wounded since October 7. Out of the total, 1,545 have been wounded as part of the Gaza invasion, and 592 of those were from friendly fire or accidents.

This means that close to 40% of injuries have been from friendly fire or accidents.

Although the IDF has some significant precision weaponry, these statistics would be interesting for critics of Israel to note who attribute IDF killing or wounding of Palestinian civilians as deliberate as opposed to accidents, given that the IDF has no interest in friendly fire accidents.