Israeli soldiers operate amid the ruins of buildings, at a location given as the Gaza Strip (Reuters)

The Israel Defense Forces said it killed a senior Hamas official at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital Monday morning. 

Faiq Mabhouh, who "operated and advanced terrorist activity" from the hospital, was shot dead while exchanging gunfire with Israeli troops who tried to capture him, according to the IDF. Mabhouh served as the head of operations in Hamas’s internal security force, primarily responsible for coordinating various Hamas units and suppressing dissenting voices in the Gaza Strip. 

The incident was not the first time Hamas terrorists have operated out of a hospital. Earlier this year U.S. intelligence determined Hamas used the same hospital as a military headquarters, commanding its troops, holding hostages, and storing weapons. The IDF, which entered the hospital in November, also confirmed evidence of Hamas’s operations inside, including a massive terror tunnel underneath the hospital. 

In December, Ahmad Kahalot, the head of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, confessed to being a high-ranking Hamas official and identified 16 hospital employees as Hamas members. Kahalot said Hamas hid "military and civilian officials inside the hospital" where they would not be targeted, describing Hamas leaders as "cowards" for "hiding in secret places" while leaving civilians vulnerable. 

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