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Israeli soldiers near Shifa Hospital in November last year
Photo: Victor R. Caivano / AP
The Israeli army says it killed a high-ranking official of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas during an operation at Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
This is Faik al-Mabhouh, head of a Hamas internal security department that is also responsible for operational operations, according to a joint statement from the military and the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet on Monday.
Al-Mabhouh was also “responsible for coordinating Hamas terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip.”
There was initially no official confirmation from Hamas of Al-Mabhouh's death.
The Israeli army and intelligence agency also said: "20 terrorists have been eliminated so far in various confrontations at Shifa Hospital and dozens of suspects have been arrested and are currently being interrogated."
Al-Mabhouh was killed after intelligence received information about the presence of senior Hamas members at the Shifa hospital, the army said.
He was hiding armed in a building in the hospital complex and was killed in a confrontation with the troops, the statement said.
Several weapons were found in the room next to his hiding place.
Eyewitnesses reported intense gunfire inside the hospital.
There were reports that a journalist from the Arabic channel Al-Jazeera was among dozens of people arrested at the clinic.
According to information from Gaza, the man killed was a brother of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was murdered in Dubai in 2010.
The Dubai police had accused the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad of being behind the crime.
One accusation against Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was that he had procured weapons for Hamas.
The case caused a huge international stir.
dop/dpa