The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) successfully eliminated a heavily armed terror cell that had opened fire from Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City on Monday.
The 21-member cell had been equipped with light arms and RPGs, and was situated within a group of civilians at the entrance of the hospital when they began shooting at troops from the 188th Armored Brigade.
This mission was accomplished through the combined effort of ground and air assets.
The IDF set out in a statement what happened next:
The soldiers identified a terrorist squad with two RPG launchers amongst the civilians. As a result of the shooting carried out by the terrorists, a tank was damaged. The soldiers fired toward the terrorists. During the exchange of fire, civilians were seen leaving the hospital building, and other terrorists who came out of adjacent buildings hid among them and joined the attempted attack. After the terrorists fired RPGs, they returned to hide in the hospital.
The combat team of the 188th Brigade, which included armored, engineering, infantry troops and with the assistance of the Air Force, responded with fire and fired shells toward the sources of the fire.
During the incident, approximately 21 terrorists were killed and there were no casualties to our forces.This incident is another example of Hamas’ continued abuse of civilian structures, including hospitals, to carry out attacks.
The vision of the beginning and end of the firefight can be seen below, as documented on IDF social media.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) affirmed that the use of hospitals in Gaza by Hamas terrorist cells as cover for their operations is not unprecedented.
In a statement, they declared this incident to be another example of Hamas’s disregard for civilian structures and misuse of hospitals to carry out attacks.
The European Union echoed these sentiments, recognizing Israel’s right to self-defense while urging Hamas terrorists to release hostages and refrain from using hospitals and civilians as human shields.
European Union Condemns Hamas For Using ‘Hospitals and Civilians as Human Shields’https://t.co/DvqkNcBnTo
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On Monday morning, Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, released a statement on behalf of the bloc’s 27 member states to condemn Hamas for their use of human shields.
The statement declared that hospitals must be protected in accordance with international law.