TEL AVIV, March 22. /TASS/. Israeli forces have apprehended 358 members of the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.

"The operation at Al-Shifa Hospital continues. There’s the greatest concentration of terrorists that we have seen since the start of the war. By now, we have apprehended over 500 suspects, including 358 terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad," he noted.

"They are surrendering, we are interrogating them, and they are providing us with very valuable and important intelligence," Hagari added.

On Monday, the IDF announced a military operation at Al-Shifa Hospital, saying that the operation was being conducted "following intelligence indicating the presence of terrorists in the area of the Shifa hospital, and their use of the hospital's infrastructure to conduct terrorist activity." According to the latest data, the Israeli military has apprehended at least 600 terrorist suspects and killed 140 armed militants at the facility.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7, 2023, after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking over 240 people hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.