Israel on Sunday released chilling images showing what it said were Hamas terrorists operating from two hospitals around Gaza City, as it vowed to surround the enclave within 48 hours and begin street fighting.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari presented videos to journalists that he said showed Hamas operatives using an underground entrance tunnel at Sheikh Hamad Hospital, and also opening fire on Israeli forces from the medical center, the Times of Israel reported.
“If it wasn’t enough that we discovered a tunnel under the hospital, the terrorists also shot at our soldiers from inside the hospital,” Hagari said.
The IDF spokesman said Israel also discovered a network of tunnels beneath the Indonesian Hospital, as well as rocket launchers parked near the building.
“Hamas systematically built the Indonesian Hospital to disguise its underground terrorist infrastructure,” Hagari alleged while conducting a military aerial takeover of the complex.
The IDF said Hamas is operating in the Sheikh Hamad Hospital in Gaza. An IDF video released Sunday shows Hamas fighters entering and leaving the medical center. IDF
He also presented recordings of Hamas officials allegedly discussing the use of fuel reserves belonging to the hospital.
Humanitarian groups have warned that fuel desperately needed by civilians is running out for medical facilities and water pumps across Gaza.
The IDF videos come after Israel earned condemnation from humanitarian groups for airstrikes near hospitals where tens of thousands of Palestinians are receiving treatment and shelter.
The IDF has claimed that Hamas’ 300-mile tunnel network passes beneath hospitals, accusing the terrorists of hiding behind wounded Palestinians.
The IDF also identified an entrance to the “Gaza Metro” near the hospital, which connects it to Hamas’s underground tunnel system. IDF
Israel’s military said it will have completely surrounded Gaza City within two days and begin a ground invasion there.
But he said Israeli soldiers would avoid entering the tunnel system, under the assumption that its passageways are full of booby traps, local media Haaretz reported.
The current invasion plan will involve the IDF encircling Gaza and advancing cautiously, systematically clearing areas and wiping Hamas off the map in an occupation that will last several months to a year or even longer, the officials said.
The tunnels will be addressed at a later stage of the invasion, but the entrances can be attacked with airstrikes if intelligence dictates it is necessary, Israel said.
The IDF also revealed footage of a Hamas fighter firing at Israeli forces from the hospital. IDF
While the IDF has not given orders to its soldiers to storm hospitals, including Shifa Hospital, where senior Hamas figures are believed to be hiding, Israeli officials did not rule out the use of military force there, according to Haaretz.
The Israeli Air Force has launched more than 1.5 million aircraft into northern Gaza and made more than 20,000 calls urging Palestinians to evacuate before the invasion of Gaza City, Hagari said.
“Our war is against Hamas, not against the civilians of Gaza. We will not accept Hamas’s cynical use of hospitals to hide its terrorist infrastructure,” Hagari said. “Hamas’ exploitation of hospitals must come to an end.”
Despite calls for evacuation, hospital officials have repeatedly said it would be impossible to empty Gaza’s medical centers.
Several hospitals operating in the Palestinian enclave have said they have many patients in intensive care and children in incubators who cannot be moved as easily to protect themselves from airstrikes.
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