The Israeli army ended its two-week operation at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. Thousands of people protest against Netanyahu in Jerusalem again.

The Israeli army launched a major operation at Al-Shifa hospital on March 18. Photo: Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters

According to Hamas, dozens of bodies and immense material damage in the hospital

According to its own statements, the Israeli army has ended its two-week operation in and around Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip and has withdrawn its troops from there. The army units had “ended their precise operational activity in the Shifa hospital area and left the hospital area,” the army said on Monday. “Terrorists died” in “clashes” at the clinical complex. A journalist from the AFP news agency, who was near the clinic, had previously observed tanks and vehicles leaving the area.

The Health Ministry of the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamist Hamas, also said Israel had withdrawn tanks and vehicles. Dozens of bodies were found in Al-Shifa hospital. There is extensive material damage. A doctor told AFP that more than 20 bodies had been recovered. Some of them were hit by vehicles moving away.

On March 18, the Israeli military launched a major operation at Al-Shifa hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, the largest clinic in the coastal region. According to Israeli information, the operation was directed against high-ranking Hamas members in the Gaza City compound and “around 200 terrorists were eliminated” in the area.

The released recordings showed money and weapons seized at the hospital complex that were used by Hamas and the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. Israel accuses Hamas of establishing a command center at the clinic site. The US government agreed with this assessment in November.

Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields and civilian facilities such as hospitals and schools for its infrastructure, including as command centers and weapons depots. Hamas denies this. The Israeli armed forces already carried out an operation at the Al-Shifa clinic in November, which sparked international criticism. (afp)

600 Israeli soldiers killed since war against Hamas began

According to Israeli figures, a total of 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the war against the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli army spokesman announced on Monday the death of Nadav Cohen, 20, of Haifa, bringing to 600 the number of soldiers killed in Israel and the Palestinian territories since the war began on October 7. The list published by the Israeli army on its website includes soldiers and reservists.

According to an AFP news agency count based on Israeli information, at least 256 of the Gaza Strip's 600 soldiers were killed. More than half of the 600 soldiers were killed in Hamas' unprecedented major attack on Israel.

Other soldiers have been killed in armed clashes in the occupied West Bank or on the border with Lebanon, where there have been almost daily gunfights between Israel and the pro-Iran militia Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, since October 7. According to the Israeli army, more than 1,523 soldiers have been injured since the start of its ground operation in the Gaza Strip. (afp)

Protests against the Israeli government in Jerusalem

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. The participants demanded the resignation of the right-wing conservative politician and the immediate holding of new elections. According to Israeli media, it was the largest anti-government protest since war broke out between Israel and the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas in early October.

Opponents of the government have set up a protest camp with around a hundred tents that, according to protesters, will continue to grow over the next four days. Several Israeli groups are involved in the actions, including parts of the protest movement that organized mass protests against judicial reforms last year.

Among the protesters who gathered outside the Israeli parliament were many relatives of hostages still detained in the Gaza Strip. The participants demanded the resumption of negotiations with the radical Islamic group Hamas and the immediate release of the hostages. The last talks between the Israeli government and Hamas collapsed about a week ago. (epd)

Israel Army Reports Killing of Hezbollah Chief in Lebanon Attack

Israel's military says it killed a senior Hezbollah militia commander in Lebanon in an airstrike. An Air Force plane hit a vehicle in the southern Lebanese region of Kunin “where Ismail Al-Sin was located,” who was “eliminated,” the army said on Sunday. Al-Sin was “commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile unit,” responsible for “dozens of attacks” against Israel. Hezbollah confirmed Al-Sin's death in a statement.

Lebanese military circles had earlier reported an attack on a car in Kunin that left one dead. The place is about ten kilometers from the border with Israel.

Since the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas began on October 7, there have been almost daily battles between Israeli soldiers and fighters from the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah in the border area between Israel and Lebanon. The Hamas-allied militia says it will only stop its attacks on Israel once there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. (afp)