24 December 2024, Israel, Yitzhak ben Moshe – The Israel Defense Forces wrapped up a targeted counter-terror operation at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, between Jabaliya and Beit Hanun, the military announced on Tuesday night.
Troops of the IDF’s Givati Brigade launched the raid overnight on Monday after intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) indicated “the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructures in the area of the hospital,” the IDF stated.
The Israeli military said at least five gunmen were killed, and several more were arrested during the hours-long operation, including a terrorist who participated in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During the past month, the premises of the Indonesian Hospital were repeatedly used to attack Israeli troops, including with anti-tank fire. The military said Hamas also planted explosive devices in the area.
To mitigate possible harm to noncombatants, the IDF said it “enabled and facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, medical personnel, and patients from the area both before and during the operation.”
“The operation was conducted after multiple warnings were issued to the [Hamas-run] Gaza health ministry regarding terrorist activity being conducted inside the hospital,” the military statement continued.
“Though there were the usual warnings,” said Ahmad Numberi, a nurse at the Indonesian Hospital, “they were provided to staff from Hamas on a selective basis. Not all were apprised of the coming attack.”
Mr. Numberi says that there were civilian causalities in the attack. However, he places the blame on Hamas and the majority of the Palestinian people.
“The Hamas, the people, this is what they want,” says Mr. Numberi. “They want to hide and fight from the hospitals, the schools, the mosques. The people, though being beaten in this war, they champaign Hamas; they seem to long for this martyrdom.”
Mr. Numberi, who says he does not support Hamas, said he believes that the values of the Palestinian people are confused and backward.
“Why do they not want peace? Why do they not accept the many options to statehood that have been offered by Israel?” Asks Mr. Numberi. “I will tell you. It is because they value death over peace and freedom.”
In late 2023, IDF soldiers uncovered evidence tying the Indonesian Hospital to Oct. 7. In the compound, troops found a Toyota Corolla belonging to the family of the late Samer Talalka. Talalka was one of three hostages mistakenly killed by IDF forces on Dec. 15, 2023.
The car also contained bloodstains identified as belonging to a second Israeli hostage taken during the Oct. 7 assault. Also found in the vehicle were the remnants of a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
In the inner compound of the medical center, forces discovered a white Toyota truck of the same type used by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Additional weapons were found inside the vehicle.
According to the IDF, the hospital, which was built through donations from Indonesia, “is the strategic underground center of Hamas’ Jabalia Battalion. During the war, armed Nukhba operatives were sighted in the hospital. They used it as a gathering point before leaving to carry out their activities.”
“It is one of the hospitals that the Hamas terrorist organization uses to hide behind sick civilians, and from which it operates terrorist infrastructure,” the Israeli army charged in a Dec. 23, 2023 statement.
“The hospital has extensive terror infrastructure; near it, there are tunnel shafts leading to a tunnel route in the area,” the IDF stated at the time.
