JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel’s military said Sunday forces had killed approximately 20 Palestinian militants in a raid on a northern Gaza hospital, calling it one of its “largest operations” conducted in the territory.

The assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia area began early on Friday, and the World Health Organization (WHO) said it left the area’s last major health facility emptied of patients and staff.

“During the operation, approximately 20 terrorists were eliminated, and powerful explosive devices planted by the terrorists were neutralized,” the military said in a statement released on Sunday.

The raid concluded on Saturday after the military said it had apprehended “240 terrorists” belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups.

The military also said it had detained the hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, whom it suspects is a Hamas militant.

“This is one of the largest operations to apprehend terrorists conducted in a single location since the beginning of the war,” the military said on Sunday.

“Field investigators from Unit 504 directed the apprehension process and conducted hundreds of field interrogations to transfer 240 terrorists belonging to the Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorist organizations for further investigation in Israeli territory.”

When asked if Abu Safiyeh had been transferred to Israeli territory for further questioning, the military did not offer an immediate comment.

The military said that among those detained it has identified 15 militants who took part in the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Gaza health officials and the WHO said the raid forced the hospital out of service.

The military said the raid was carried out “against a Hamas command center in the hospital.” Hamas denies the accusation.

Since 6 October this year, Israeli operations in Gaza have focused on the north, where they say their land and air offensive aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

The military said a soldier was killed in combat in territory’s Gaza on Sunday, taking the military’s losses in the Gaza campaign to 392 since it launched a ground operation in the coastal enclave on 27 October last year.