Israel destroys tunnel network under Gaza hospital and girls’ school
Israeli soldiers destroyed a network of tunnels underneath and around a hospital and adjacent girls’ school in northern Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces said on Wednesday night.
Israeli forces demolish a network of tunnels under and around the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza on Dec. 27, 2023. Screenshot via IDF Spokesperson
The three shafts, dozens of metres deep, were connected by an underground network passing under the Rantisi hospital and leading to the heart of Gaza City, the IDF said. The tunnels also ran under and around the nearby Ramaz Fahrah School. A special elevator installed in the girl’s school descended 20 meters down to the shaft.
“The exposure of the shafts near the hospital and school once again demonstrate Hamas’ cynical use of the civilian population. Exposing Hamas’ use of the residents of the Gaza Strip, including refugees and children, as human shields,” the IDF said in a statement.
An operation to locate shafts found that the tunnels spanned several kilometres below Gaza City and led to another school. The tunnel also served as a command and control center for conducting combat and launching point for terror attacks.
Following intelligence information, Israeli forces uncovered another operational shaft inside a hideout residence used by one of the commanders of Hamas’ naval unit in the Gaza Strip. This section of the tunnel included junctions and blast doors designed to protect the shaft’s infrastructure and prevent soldiers from breaking in.
The entire tunnel network was demolished by combat engineers from the elite Yahalom Unit together with their counterparts in the 14th Brigade.
The IDF released video footage from the tunnels and of their demolition, along with a map showing their path below the hospital and school.
Raids on buildings in the area of the Rantisi Hospital uncovered further Hamas infrastructure, including command and control centers, media equipment, maps, aids, and numerous weapons.
At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The number of men, women, children, soldiers and foreigners held captive in Gaza by Hamas is now believed to be 129. Other people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.
