TEL AVIV, November 24. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plans to leave the Al-Shifa Hospital after destroying the terrorist infrastructure of the Palestinian radical group Hamas found there, the Yedioth Ahronoth news agency reported, citing IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari.

The newspaper also said that earlier in the day, the director of the hospital was detained in the Gaza Strip by Israeli security forces and handed over to the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) for interrogation after they received evidence that the medical facility was a Hamas command center.

The Israeli military has been conducting a sweep of the Al-Shifa Hospital since last week. The IDF said that there are several underground compounds and a tunnel beneath the medical center building where radicals were sheltered and hostages kidnapped in the October 7 attack were being held.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.