Top Hamas operative killed in hospital raid, army says

The IDF says troops killed a senior Hamas operative during this morning’s raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.

Faiq Mabhouh, who served as the head of operations in Hamas’s internal security force, was armed and hiding inside the Shifa complex, “from which he was working to advance terror activity,” the IDF says.

Mabhouh was killed amid an exchange of fire during an attempt to arrest him, the IDF says.

In a nearby room, the IDF says troops recovered a cache of weapons.

Mabhouh, according to the IDF and Shin Bet, was responsible for the “synchronization” of various Hamas units in the Gaza Strip, including during the war.

As head of operations for internal security, he played a key role in a secret police force largely engaged in quashing political dissent within the Strip, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations.