The Israeli army released images and videos this Sunday that, it claims, attest to the discovery of “a fortified tunnel” used by the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, under the Al Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Israeli army explains that the tunnel discovered is 55 meters long and ten meters deep, under the largest hospital complex in the Gaza Strip, and that access was found under a trapdoor “near a vehicle containing numerous weapons”.
Israel has long alleged that Hamas maintains a vast command post inside and below Al Shifa Hospital, although the Islamist movement and hospital staff deny the allegations.
The hospital is seen as a key target for Israel to end militant rule in Gaza, following the widespread attack in southern Israel six weeks ago that sparked the war.
The Israeli military says soldiers discovered the tunnel, based on information from defense intelligence and the internal security agency, and that it continues to search for the full route of the underground path.
“The Hamas terrorist organization uses this type of entry to prevent Israeli forces from accessing Hamas command centers and underground routes,” said the army, which invaded the hospital complex last Wednesday.
The hospital is still surrounded by Israeli tanks and there are soldiers inside, Marwan Abou Saada, head of the surgery department, told Agence France-Presse today.
As Israeli attacks continue, the director general of hospitals in the Palestinian territory said today that 31 premature babies were taken from Al Shifa and transferred to Egypt.
According to the World Health Organization, patients, medical staff and 2,500 displaced people who had taken refuge in the hospital left it on Saturday, after receiving orders from the Israeli army.
In recent days, as part of joint IDF-ISA operational activity, more than 100 Hamas terrorists have been arrested and transferred for interrogation in Israel; Among the detained suspects were three Nukhba terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre.
In another statement published today, the Israeli army claims to have carried out dozens of interrogations in different areas of Gaza and detained “more than 100 terrorists for interrogation in Israel.”
The same source claims the arrest of “Nukhba terrorists”, an elite force of the military wing of Hamas, and also of the operators responsible for firing rockets into Israel and explosives, “who revealed the location of underground tunnels, including warehouses and weapons “.
The detainees “revealed the operational methods used by the terrorist organization, as well as details regarding the excavation of tunnels and the recruitment process” of the organization, responsible for the attacks against Israel on October 7, which led the country to declare the war on Hamas and invade the Gaza Strip after prolonged bombings that claimed thousands of lives.
Source: TSF
