Israel discovers cache of heavy weapons in Gaza’s largest hospital, including maternity ward – New York Post

World News

By Ronny Reyes

The Israeli army discovered a multitude of weapons hidden in Gaza’s largest hospital, including in the toilets and maternity ward, after a shootout with Hamas terrorists, military officials said.

Members of the Israel Defense Forces’ Nahal Brigade reconnaissance team conducted a raid on the MRI center at al Shifa Hospital on Monday, as ongoing fighting resumed.

After eliminating several gunmen inside the facility, Israeli troops located 81 mortars, 60 rounds of ammunition and a plethora of Hamas rifles, grenades and other equipment.

The Israeli military noted that the weapons were stored in hidden lockers under the floor, above the ceiling tiles and in the bathrooms of the MRI center.

Inside the maternity ward, the soldiers also spotted several rifles, grenades, mortars and bullet cartridges.

Lt. Col. Noor Bobalil, commander of the Nahal patrol, said his unit had been operating inside al Shifa hospital for three days, with the Israeli army claiming over the weekend to have killed around 170 terrorists into the medical facility and arrested 800 others. .

The World Health Organization and the United Nations have condemned the fighting in hospitals, with doctors complaining of having to treat and care for hundreds of patients amid bloody fighting.

The Health Ministry and the Hamas-run media office said many of the suspected terrorists killed in the raids were wounded patients or some of the thousands of refugees sheltering inside the hospital.

The latest raid on the MRI center came as the IDF and Shin Bet intelligence services said they seized another weapons cache as it was smuggled into the West Bank on Monday.

Officials from Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, said Iranian Unit 4000, a special operations division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was behind the weapons intended for use in attacks on Israel, reports the Times of Israel.

Among the weapons seized were two large bombs, five anti-tank mines, four grenade launchers, more than 55 pounds of explosives, 13 anti-tank missiles, 15 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 16 rockets, 15 hand grenades, 33 rifles. assault and 50 handguns.

Shin Bet officials claimed that Munir Makdah, a senior Fatah official who lives in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, was involved in the smuggling operation.

Intelligence agents are working with the IDF to locate other Iranian weapons believed to have been smuggled into the West Bank, officials said.