Smoke rises during an Israeli raid at Shifa hospital and the area around it, in Gaza City, March 20, 2024. (PHOTO / REUTERS)

JERUSALEM/GAZA - Israel's army continued its raid on Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza on Thursday, claiming that its forces killed more than 140 people and arrested "senior Hamas officials".

Approximately 600 Palestinians have been apprehended, and more than 140 others have been killed, the army said in a statement, claiming all of them are militants.

"Several weapons and intelligence documents" were discovered during searches in the hospital, according to the statement.

READ MORE: Israeli troops raid Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital

"Islamic Jihad operatives in the hospital complex surrendered themselves to the troops," the army said.

The army said that "senior officials" with Hamas, an armed group and movement that runs Gaza, and the Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group, were arrested.

Also on Thursday, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said the death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,988

No end date for the operation was given. "The forces are continuing to operate in and to search the area, locating weapons and apprehending terrorists in close-quarter encounters," the statement read.

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The recent operation began early on Monday, with the Israeli forces attacking the compound in Gaza City with tanks and airstrikes. On Thursday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli forces blew up the specialized surgical building and that communication with all medical teams inside the medical complex was lost.

A Palestinian woman fleeing Shifa hospital following an Israeli raid, carries her triplet children as she moves southward, in the central Gaza Strip on March 21, 2024. (PHOTO / REUTERS)

Shifa, which was Gaza's largest medical facility before the war, is now one of the few hospitals still functioning in the coastal enclave and also serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians. Israel has targeted the hospital before, claiming that Hamas used it as a command center and hid weapons and fighters in underground tunnels underneath the complex.  

READ MORE: Israel says kills 90, arrests 600 in raid at Gaza's al-Shifa hospital

Also on Thursday, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza said the death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,988.

The ministry said in a statement that the Israeli army killed 65 Palestinians and wounded 92 others during the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 31,988 and injuries to 74,188 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023.