Israel uncovers alleged Hamas tunnel connected to Gaza’s Rantisi Children’s Hospital | Video
Israel-Hamas war: Israel’s defense forces progressed into a ground invasion after issuing alerts to civilians in North Gaza, with the aim to ‘eliminate’ Hamas fighters and destroy what they claim the tunnel network operated by the Hamas. While the move has been condemned by world leaders and Israel has been urged to avoid civilian casualty, the defense forces have only intensified their attacks paralyzing Northern Gaza, killing over 11,100 Palestinians.
Over the past 40 days at several intervals, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released audio recording of calls between Hamas fighters which the IDF claim were intercepted. In the latest of their alleged ‘revelations’, the IDF released a 6 minute video wherein they showcase a tunnel with bulletproof door.
Israel claims that the bulletproof door is the opening to a Hamas operated tunnel and opens into the Gaza’s Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital on the other side. The video comes at a time when Israel’s intensified bombing of Gaza’s largest hospitals have come under fire.
Rantisi hospital is only 200 yards (183 metres) away, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, as he sought to prove the accusations that the Palestinian Hamas group has been operating from hospitals.
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“Inside these tunnels, Hamas terrorists hide, operate and hold Israeli hostages against their will,” said the Israel Security Forces on X, formerly Twitter.
The tunnel is electrified with the help of solar panels and leads to a bulletproof and explosives-proof door about 20 metres down the ground level, he said. “It looks like a hard and clear evidence that the hospital is connected,” he added.
The tunnel remains covered so that no one can find it and the hospital is next to a school and an UN building, the Israeli forces said.
The military spokesperson then enters the basement of the hospital where he finds “operational gears” of the Hamas in a room, including explosive body vests, hand grenades, Kalashnikov rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
“Hamas is using hospitals…people shooting RPGs from hospitals. This is Hamas. The world has to understand who is Israel fighting against,” he asserted.
Hostages were brought from across the Gaza border on bike and held hostage in this basement, he claimed, pointing to a bike with bullet marks. Women’s clothes, ropes tied to a chair, diapers, and a feeding bottle in the basement added to the “suspicion for areas where hostages were held”.
A makeshift washroom complete with a commode and ventilation were also found there. “We see infrastructure like toilets, showers and a small kitchen provided the terrorists their needs,” he said.
He further claimed that a roster in Arabic on the wall of a room mentioned “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, the name given to the October 7 Hamas attack, and the shifts of Hamas operatives.
Hamas denied the claim, calling it a “campaign of lies and allegations.”
Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair has refuted this claim and said the text in Arabic was nothing but the days of the week.
The Israel defense forces had surrounded Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital on Monday, putting the life of hundreds of critically injured, severely ill patients in danger. Israel says Al Shifa is a “major hub” of Hamas’s activities because the group has a command center located in tunnels underneath it.
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Updated: 14 Nov 2023, 02:31 PM IST