Israeli Army Arrest 100 Hamas Militants While Surrounding Kamal Adwan Gaza Hospital

Israeli Army/ILLUSTRATION PHOTO via Wikimedia Commons/IDF

JAKARTA - Israeli soldiers arrested about 100 Hamas militants in a smuggling at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza.

Health officials Gaza and Hamas denied the presence of militants at the hospital, which Israeli forces invaded on Friday, October 25 and abandoned the next day.

The army captured about 100 terrorists from the compound, including terrorists who tried to escape while evacuating civilians. Inside the hospital, they found weapons, terror funds, and intelligence documents," the Israeli military said.

Gaza's Ministry of Health said soldiers had detained dozens of male medical staff and damaged the hospital.

"Some of the identified terrorists are fully disguised as medical staff so we have no other alternative but to examine medical staff as well," an Israeli military official said.

Footage spread by Gaza's health ministry on Saturday last weekend showed damage to several buildings after Israeli forces withdrew.

Israeli military officials say troops only cause limited damage to hospitals when entering and soldiers must also destroy what they call a double utilization equipment', such as an oxygen tank, which if detonated could harm anyone in the compound.

Medical staff refused to vacate the hospital or leave their patients unsupervised. Hundreds of Palestinian refugees also took refuge there.

They evacuated everyone who took shelter here. They separated men from women and made two queues. This is very embarrassing for our men because they took them naked and did not cover anything," said Mayssoun Alian, a hospital nurse.

Israeli military officials said the suspected Hamas members who were arrested were swallowed up for examination of their weapons.

"After checking we gave them clothes," he said.

Gaza medics said two children died in an intensive care unit after Israeli fire hit generators and oxygen stations at the facility on Friday.

Israel claims civilians in hospital remain safe, despite fierce fighting near the compound. Fuel, medical equipment and blood units have been provided to hospitals and electricity and oxygen supplies are confirmed to be available.