ISRAELI soldiers stormed Gaza’s biggest hospital today amid reports that the bodies of murdered Hamas hostages are being kept there.
IDF Commanders said they had “credible evidence” that the dead civilians were being held at a besieged hospital in Khan Younis.
Israeli soldiers on the frontline in Gaza
Destruction caused by Israeli strikes in Rafah, southern Gaza
Palestinians arrive in Rafah after they were evacuated from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis ahead of the Israeli operation
Patients and staff at the hospital in southern Gaza were urged to flee before special forces teams poured into the building.
IDF troops were then forced to scour the hospital morgue in their grim search for dead hostages.
Israeli commandos also arrested several terror suspects during the raid.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari the military was conducting a “precise and limited” operation inside the hospital.
He added: “Since the Hamas massacre of October 7th, the IDF has been operating to fulfil its mission of dismantling Hamas and bringing our hostages home.
“Sadly, we know that some hostages are no longer alive. We are committed to finding and returning the bodies of those hostages in Gaza.”
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 31 hostages held by the terror group, including the bodies of two soldiers held since 2014.
Hagari added: “We conduct precise rescue operations – as we have in the past – where our intelligence indicates that the bodies of hostages may be held.
“As was proven with the Shifa Hospital, Rantisi Hospital, Al Amal Hospital, and many other hospitals across Gaza, Hamas systematically uses hospitals as terror hubs.”
IDF intelligence reports say over 85% of “major medical facilities” in Gaza have been used by the terror group.
Hagari said: “Because Hamas terrorists are likely hiding behind injured civilians inside Nasser Hospital right now and appear to have used the hospital to hide our hostages there too.
“This sensitive operation was prepared with precision and is being conducted by IDF special forces who underwent specified training.
“A key objective as defined by our military mission is to ensure that Nasser Hospital continues its important function of treating Gazan patients.
“We communicated this in a number of conversations we had with the hospital staff over the last few days.
“We emphasized that there is no obligation for patients or staff to evacuate the hospital.
However, we have been urging other Gazans, in Arabic, on the phone and via loudspeakers, to move away from the danger that Hamas puts them in – via a humanitarian corridor we opened for this purpose.
Hagari said its search came after the IDF shipped in medical supplies, oxygen tanks and fuel for electricity to the hospital.
He added: “We seek no harm to innocent civilians. We seek to find our hostages and bring them home. We seek to hunt down Hamas terrorists wherever they may be hiding.”
Site of an Israeli strike in Gaza on February 12
A man inspects the damage in a room following Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital last December
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