IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari addressed the press on Thursday and noted that the IDF's operation in the Shifa Hospital in Gaza was the largest since the war began.
"This operation had the largest concentration of terrorists arrested since the war began - 550 terrorists. Many of the terrorists in Shifa surrendered to our forces - it is a difficult blow to the Islamic Jihad," Hagari stated.
He noted that "during the past day, we entered the Qatari building in Shifa, this time terrorists were hiding there. Shayetet 13 commandoes raided the building, our soldiers eliminated the terrorists, and arrested very important senior operatives. We still can not publish their identities but they hold important intelligence. The Hamas senior operatives understand the aims of the operation very well."
He recounted how terrorists hid among the patients of the hospital in an attempt to save themselves. "There are terrorists who decided to take cover near the emergency room. We are evacuating the patients from the Shifa emergency room so that all the patients and doctors will be safe. We are continuing to call to the terrorists who are in the building to surrender. Those who surrender will stay alive, whoever doesn't - we will go in to fight him until we kill him.
"There will be more fighting here, there will be more several days in this operation," Hagari concluded.