New Delhi: The Israel Army today posted several visuals of a reinforced tunnel under Gaza's largest hospital which they claimed was part of a vast underground network Hamas uses for military purposes. The Al Shifa Hospital in north Gaza has been the focal point of the war between Israeli troops and Hamas for the past few weeks. Israeli officials say Hamas has been using the hospital to hide weapons and command centres –- a claim denied by medical staff and the Palestinian group.
After days of intensive raids at the hospital, Israel Defence Forces posted videos of one tunnel complete with a bathroom, kitchen, and an air-conditioned meeting room that it said had served as a command post for Hamas operatives.
The tunnel shaft, some two meters (6-1/2 feet) high, was accessed through an outdoor shaft in the hospital complex grounds, which were once crowded with tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians the army said had served as a human shield from war.
Sharing drone footage of the tunnel, the IDF said that Hamas hides behind hospitals.
"Al-Shifa Hospital from above, Hamas terror complex below, Hamas hides behind hospitals, And here's the drone footage, That incontrovertibly proves it," Israel Defence Forces posted on X (Formerly Twitter).
The troops also took some reporters down the shaft which led to a narrow tunnel
"It's a very long tunnel. The tunnel goes from the city to the hospital," Colonel Elad Tsury, commander of Israel's Seventh Brigade, told reporters.
"When they are trying to survive, they go down, use hospitals as human shields and they can stay here for a long time," he added.
The reporters were not taken inside the hospital and allowed to see only a portion of the sprawling complex.
Outside the hospital, the military displayed guns, ammunition, and explosives they said were found in the Al-Shifa complex.
Israel has faced international criticism for its Gaza campaign, including its attacks on Shifa, the enclave's largest hospital. Medical officials say Israel has killed around 13,000 people in the strip since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage.