 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(March 2024) |
Raad Thabet | |
|---|---|
| Died | 2024 |
| Battles/wars | Israel–Hamas war |
Raad Thabet (d. 2024) was a Palestinian militant and senior Hamas commander. [1] He was the head of the terror group's recruitment and supply acquisition. [1]
Several Hamas operatives, including Thabet, were killed by IDF troops from the Navy's Shayetet 13 unit, the Givati Brigade's Shaked Battalion, and the Duvdevan Unit after fleeing Al-Shifa Hospital's emergency department. [1]
Unit 8200 is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit of the Israel Defense Forces responsible for clandestine operation, collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption, counterintelligence, cyberwarfare, military intelligence, and surveillance. Military publications include references to Unit 8200 as the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps, and it is sometimes referred to as Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU). It is subordinate to Aman, the military intelligence directorate.
Shayetet 13 is a unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the Israel Defense Forces. Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and boarding. The unit is trained for sea, air and land actions. The unit has taken part in almost all of Israel's major wars, as well as other actions.
Incidents in the Gaza War include incidents involving attacks against civilians, a school, a mosque, and naval confrontations.
Al-Shifa Hospital is the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City. Originally a British Army barracks, the site was transformed into a healthcare facility, the Dar al-Shifa or "house of healing", by the government of Mandatory Palestine in 1946. The hospital was expanded during the Egyptian and later Israeli occupations during the 1980s. In the 21st-century, the hospital has been prominent during the Gaza–Israel conflict.
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge, and Battle of the Withered Grain, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since 2007. Following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank by Hamas-affiliated Palestinian militants, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated Operation Brother's Keeper, in which some 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of the active Hamas militants in the West Bank, were arrested. Hamas subsequently fired a greater number of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, triggering a seven-week-long conflict between the two sides. It was one of the deadliest outbreaks of open conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. The combination of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli airstrikes resulted in over two thousand deaths, the vast majority of which were Gazan Palestinians. This includes a total of six Israeli civilians who were killed as a result of the conflict.
The Battle of Shuja'iyya occurred between the Israel Defense Forces and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades on 20 July 2014 during 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip. Shuja'iyya, with 92,000 people in 6 sq-kilometres, is one of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, it had become a "terrorist fortress", that between 8 and 20 July had fired over 140 rockets into Israel after the outbreak of hostilities. Casualty figures are not known with precision, partly because bodies were recovered long after the fighting, and people had also died of injuries afterwards. The UN Protection Cluster states that between the 19-20th, 55 civilians, including 19 children and 14 women, were killed as a result of the IDF's actions. At the time, estimates varied from 66 to about 120 Palestinians killed, with a third of them women and children, and at least 288 wounded. The UN figures of Palestinian casualties are preliminary and subject to revision. 16 Israeli soldiers were killed.
On 27 October 2023, Israel launched an ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip with the stated goals of destroying Hamas, a military and political movement that led an attack on Israel earlier in the month, and to free hostages taken by the group. Before the invasion, dubbed Operation Swords of Iron, Israel declared war, tightened its blockade, and ordered the evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip.
The siege of Gaza City began on 2 November 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded Gaza City, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, which was a counterattack to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Gaza City is the most populated city in the Gaza Strip and the battle started on 30 October 2023, when Israel and Hamas clashed in Gaza City. According to Oxfam, there are about 500,000 Palestinians, along with 200 Israelis and other captives, currently trapped in a "siege within a siege" in northern Gaza.
On 3 November 2023, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and siege of Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance convoy departing from al-Shifa Hospital carrying critically injured patients. The strike killed 15 people and wounded dozens. The Palestine Red Crescent Society, which was part of the convoy, said that all 15 casualties were civilians.
Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, was placed under siege by Israel in mid-November 2023 during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, after saying it had contained a Hamas command and control center beneath it. The incident was followed by a second major raid by Israeli forces in March 2024.
Israel has accused Hamas of using human shields in the Gaza Strip, saying that Hamas has purposely attempted to shield itself from Israeli attacks by storing weapons in civilian infrastructure, launching rockets from residential areas, and telling residents to ignore Israeli warnings to flee. Israel has also accused Hamas of maintaining command and control bunkers and tunnel infrastructure below hospitals. Hamas has denied using hospitals to shield any command center, while it has previously made remarks expressing support for Palestinians refusing to flee areas Israel has targeted.
During the Israel–Hamas war, Israel and the United States stated that a vast complex existed under al-Shifa hospital that was being used by Hamas as its "main operations base", which Hamas and hospital administrators denied. Following Israel's release of video evidence on 22 November, multiple news agencies concluded that the evidence did not demonstrate the use by Hamas of a command center. The New York Times also said the evidence does not show conclusive evidence of a vast network of tunnels, while Haaretz concluded that Hamas did use the hospital for military purposes. Amnesty International said on 23 November 2023 that "Amnesty International has so far not seen any credible evidence to support Israel’s claim that al-Shifa is housing a military command centre" and that "the Israeli military has so far failed to provide credible evidence" for the allegation. Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas official, denied that the group used the hospital as a shield for its underground military structures, saying there was no truth to the claims.
The 2023 Israel-Hamas war led to an intensive interrogation program by Israeli intelligence agencies, particularly Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet and IDF's Unit 504, targeting captured Hamas militants. Following the surprise Hamas attack on October 7, which resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli casualties, mostly civilian, more than 600 militants were captured in Israel. Israel has claimed that the interrogation of the suspects revealed significant insights into the group's strategies, ideologies, and operational methods that played a crucial role in Israel's military response and in shaping the global understanding of the conflict.
An insurgency began in northern Gaza, centred around besieged Gaza city after Israel announced it had dismantled 12 Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades battalions on 7 January.
Yitzhar Hofman was an Israeli soldier who was the commander in the Israeli Air Force's elite Shaldag Unit.
Mahmoud Khalil Zakzuk was a Palestinian militant and senior Hamas commander.