Israeli military completely dismantles Hamas terror tunnel network below Shifa Hospital in Gaza City

Israeli soldiers have successfully dismantled the Hamas terror tunnel network below Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday.

The underground tunnel network reportedly spans some 250 meters (820 feet) below the central Gaza City hospital buildings. IDF troops who specialize in tunnel warfare neutralized the network without causing any damage to the hospital itself. The central location of the tunnel network reportedly allowed it to serve Hamas operatives as a connecting link between important locations throughout the city.

Hamas frequently operates in civilian locations such as hospitals, schools and mosques, as terrorists recognize Israel has been reluctant to target civilian infrastructure in the past. Israel has long argued that Hamas used Shifa Hospital and its patients as human shields for its terror operations.

In November, the Israeli military carried out a precise and dramatic counter-terrorism operation against Hamas in the Shifa Hospital and its vicinity.

“The IDF is conducting a ground operation in Gaza to defeat Hamas and rescue our hostages. Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the civilians in Gaza,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

The IDF reported that the operation involved “medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians being used by Hamas as human shields.” 

There were also strong indications that Hamas terrorists held some Israeli and international hostages below the Shifa Hospital complex before Israeli forces arrived.

Hamas officials have denied that the terror organization operates out of Shifa Hospital or other civilian structures in the Gaza Strip. However, in late November, the Israeli military released video footage from Shifa Hospital with Hamas terrorists arriving at the hospital with the hostages they had forcefully abducted from Israel on Oct. 7.

“These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organization used the Shifa Hospital complex on the day of the Oct. 7 massacre as terrorist infrastructure,” the Israel Defense Forces said in an official statement.

"This is further evidence of the cynical manner Hamas uses the residents of the Gaza Strip as a human shield for their murderous terrorist activities," the Israeli military added.

While Israeli forces are fighting pockets of Hamas resistance in northern Gaza, the military is increasingly shifting its focus towards neutralizing remaining Hamas operatives who are concentrated in the southern half of the coastal enclave, especially in the area of Khan Younis, where senior Hamas leaders are believed to be hiding with Israeli hostages in subterranean tunnels.

In addition to Hamas atrocities and war crimes, the IDF published evidence on Wednesday showing how Hamas and its ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), cynically exploit and indoctrinate Gazan children to take active part in the Jihadist groups’ terror attacks against Israel and the Jewish people.

Much of this antisemitic indoctrination takes place in schools sponsored by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza and elsewhere.

Hamas has operated “summer camps” for many years where children are brainwashed to hate Jews and are taught to shoot and other terror militia tactics. These camps have served as recruiting bases for new generations of Jihadist terrorists against Israel.