IDF kills 4 senior Hamas leaders in hospital

Tel Aviv: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it killed four senior Hamas leaders during an operation at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. They were hiding there. One of the dead, Raad Thabet, was the head of a Hamas recruitment team and another, Mahmoud Khalil Zakzuk, was the deputy commander of Hamas’ rocket unit in Gaza City, according to the IDF. The other two dead were identified as senior Hamas activists Fadi Dweik and Zakaria Najib. The IDF said Dweik was a senior Hamas intelligence officer and was involved in a 2002 shooting spree in the West Bank. Four Israeli citizens were killed in this. The IDF said Zakaria Najib was a senior operative at Hamas’ West Bank headquarters and was involved in planning and carrying out attacks on Israel in the West Bank. The IDF said in a statement Saturday night that shelling continued at the al-Shifa hospital complex and that its troops had killed about 200 Hamas activists inside the hospital. The statement also said the IDF killed several Hamas gunmen in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza on Saturday. The Israeli Air Force also carried out airstrikes in the Al-Amal and Al-Qurarah areas, the military said. Israeli Defense Ministry sources told IANS that the IDF was conducting searches in Al-Shifa and Al-Nasser hospitals, where several Hamas members were still hiding.