Israel Defense Forces soldiers gave reporters a rare look at Hamas’ 300-mile-long underground tunnel system through an uncovered entrance at al-Shifa Hospital, showing that the medical facility was being used as nerve center for the operations of terrorist groups.
Reporters descended on the terrorist tunnel Wednesday through a tunnel in Gaza City’s largest hospital complex, after weeks of Hamas denying that such a structure existed.
The underground structure included several rooms housing beds, a kitchen, a bathroom and an arsenal of weapons, explosives and drones.
The IDF said the discovery of the tunnel system came on Nov. 17, when a bombing raid near the hospital complex unearthed the entrance next to a Qatari facility.
The small hole, large enough for only one person to enter at a time, leads to a dark, dank tunnel that runs beneath the foreign compound before reaching the Hamas-operated compound.
The IDF allowed media to tour a secure section of the tunnel system beneath al-Shifa hospital on Wednesday. AP Inside the tunnels, IDF soldiers confiscated dozens of weapons and ammunition. AFP via Getty Images The base was discovered after a bombing near al-Shifa revealed the entrance to a well last week.REUTERS
In a video descending into the tunnel, the bathroom is the first room visible in the base, followed by a long, white room with a large air conditioning system installed. The room connects to another tunnel with a small kitchen.
There were also smaller rooms within the facility that the IDF said likely housed some of the hostages who were kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
The sections of the tunnel that journalists could see were secured after the IDF first highlighted the exploration of the tunnel beneath al-Shifa last week, where soldiers stopped dead before an explosion-proof door with a slot which would allow Hamas gunmen to fire on the invaders.
The entrance is large enough for one person to enter at a time. REUTERS There were also several grenades and other explosives in the underground rooms. AFP via Getty Images Part of the underground base included a small kitchen.REUTERS
Inside the tunnel, the IDF seized dozens of weapons and ammunition, along with several grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and multiple drones designed to launch explosives.
The IDF also showed off fuse boxes inside the tunnel system that it said draw power from the hospital complex to fuel Hamas terrorist activities below.
Israeli soldiers spent the last few days ensuring that the tunnels were not booby-trapped to allow journalists access.
IDF Colonel Elad Tsuri said the IDF is working to clear more paths from the tunnel found beneath al-Shifa, noting that soldiers have already found an exit leading to a kindergarten in Gaza.
“That’s the way they survive because they use the hospital as a human shield that protects them,” Tsuri said.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the world needed to hold Hamas accountable for operating beneath a hospital, calling it a “war crime.”
The sophisticated tunnel system featured pathways to various rooms beneath the hospital. AFP via Getty Images The IDF is working to secure the rest of the tunnel roads beneath al-Shifa, one of which leads to a daycare center. AFP via Getty Images
Hamas officials have yet to comment on the latest evidence released by the IDF.
The tour below al-Shifa came just a day after Israel released images of another Hamas base located beneath a Gaza mosque.
The chilling video showed a shaft that the IDF said led directly to Hamas terrorist tunnels beneath the house of worship.
Israeli soldiers also found a weapons laboratory in the basement filled with mortars, missiles with warheads, thermobaric weapons, and RPGs; some of them looked finished and ready to go, while others looked like they were in the middle of production.
With mail cables.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn