Israel accused Hamas on Monday of using hospitals as “human shields” again as terrorists fired on Israeli soldiers from within Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Shifa Hospital was notorious earlier in the war, when Israel claimed — then proved — that the facility had been used to hide terrorists, to move hostages, and to cover up underground Hamas facilities.

Early Monday morning Israel time, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Israel was conducting a limited operation at the hospital, protecting hospital operations while targeting Hamas terrorists.

The IDF also said in a statement that terrorists had been firing at Israeli soldiers “from a number of hospital buildings.” It added: “The forces engaged the terrorists and identified several hits.”

One of those hits was apparently a senior Hamas commander. In a joint statement, the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA, also known as the “Shin Bet” or “Shabak”), said:

Following IDF and ISA intelligence indicating the presence of senior Hamas terrorists in the Shifa hospital, IDF and ISA forces conducting precise operational activity in the compound eliminated Faiq Mabhouh, head of the Operations Directorate of Hamas’ Internal Security. He was also responsible for coordination of Hamas terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip.

Faiq Mabhouh was eliminated in an encounter with the troops while armed and hiding in a compound at the Shifa hospital, from which he operated and advanced terrorist activity. Numerous weapons were located in the room adjacent to where he was eliminated.

The IDF also released other evidence of terrorist activity at the hospital:

In a briefing to reporters on Monday, Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman described the IDF operation at Shifa Hospital and reiterated that Hamas uses hospitals and civilians as human shields, which is a war crime.

Asked by Breitbart News to comment on whether the U.S. Senate was withholding military aid until Israel held new elections, as demanded last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Hyman declined to comment.

Without wading into American politics, Hyman said, it was important to note: “We are a sovereign nation. We are not a banana republic. We are fighting a war for our very existence. We are fighting for another day for the Jewish state. We are fighting for our children. … to ensure that Gaza never becomes a threat to Israel again.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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