The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) detained over 240 suspected terrorists in an operation at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. The raid was completed over the weekend on December 28 after the Israeli military identified that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives had returned to using the area for terrorist purposes. In another operation, the IDF sent two infantry brigades to encircle Beit Hanoun and search for terrorists in this northern Gaza neighborhood.
The IDF has been operating in northern Gaza since early October, seeking to re-clear areas previously cleared of terrorists during the year-long campaign against Hamas. This multi-pronged operation began in Jabaliya, where around 70,000 civilians were evacuated, and several thousand terrorists were eliminated and detained, according to IDF estimates. Infantry, armored, and special forces units were used in Jabaliya and areas in Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, two other northern Gaza locales close to the border with Israel.
The IDF sent the Kfir Infantry Brigade into an area west of Beit Hanoun on December 22 after it completed operations in Beit Lahiya. Three soldiers from the unit were killed in clashes west of the city. The IDF then sent a second brigade into Beit Hanoun to clear it of terrorists. “Following prior intelligence regarding the presence of terrorist infrastructure and operatives in the area, and as part of the effort to maintain security for the residents of the communities in southern Israel, the Nahal Brigade began operating overnight against terror targets in the area of Beit Hanoun,” the IDF said.
The battles in northern Gaza have seen many of these Israeli units fight Hamas non-stop over several months. For instance, the IDF said the Nahal Brigade had recently completed operations in Rafah before being sent north. The Kfir Brigade has seen similarly constant operations.
Terrorists in Beit Hanoun fired several long-range rockets at Israel on Saturday amid the IDF’s operations in the area. It was some of the first long-range rocket fire in several months from Gaza. Most rockets used by terrorists in Gaza have been destroyed, but it appears these were launched as Israeli forces closed in on the area where the rockets were hidden and primed for firing. The Israeli Air Force struck the area and released images showing the rockets concealed in a launcher in the ground. The airstrike caused another rocket to launch in a secondary explosion.
Kamal Adwan Hospital is one of several hospitals in northern Gaza, along with the Indonesian Hospital, named after donations from Indonesia. Hamas has used Kamal Adwan and areas around it for terrorist purposes numerous times since the beginning of the war. In December 2023, the IDF carried out a raid in this area and detained dozens of terrorist suspects. In late October, Israeli troops returned to the neighborhood and again detained numerous terrorist suspects.
In December 2024, Israeli intelligence “identified that terrorists were once again using the Kamal Adwan Hospital as a command center for […] military operations in Jabaliya. Following this intelligence, the IDF conducted and completed a targeted operation against the Hamas terror stronghold inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital,” the IDF said on December 28.
The IDF enabled 350 patients to be evacuated from the hospital, along with medical personnel, before the raid. “During the course of the targeted operation, an additional 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital in coordination with local officials in the health authorities,” the IDF said.
The operation to secure the hospital and its environs and prevent terrorists from escaping was conducted by the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade and the elite Shayetet 13 unit. The soldiers “located and confiscated weapons in the area, including grenades, guns, munitions, and military equipment.” Anti-tank missiles were also fired at IDF troops. The Israeli military said that terrorist suspects “attempted to pose as patients or flee using ambulances.” The IDF also detained the director of the hospital for questioning, suspecting him of being a “Hamas terrorist operative.” Fifteen suspects from Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, were also found, the IDF said.
On December 29, Israel discovered more terrorists using a site that had previously been a hospital in Shejeiya in Gaza. The IDF said it carried out an airstrike on a building that had been El Wafa Hospital. “The command and control center was used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF troops in the immediate future,” the Israeli military stated, adding that the building “does not currently serve as a hospital.”
