Expanding their offensive against Hamas, Israel Defence Forces ( IDF ) located and destroyed three terror tunnel shafts belonging to the Hamas terror organization near the Rantisi Hospital and in the nearby High School on Wednesday.The tunnel shafts, that the Hamas fighters used are dozens of metres deep and are linked by an underground network that runs beneath the hospital and into Gaza City.
“IDF troops are uncovering Hamas’ tunnels inside and around multiple hospitals within Gaza. The Rantisi Hospital is just another terrorist stronghold used to connect and transfer terrorists and weapons throughout Gaza to be used against Israelis,” the IDF wrote in a post on Twitter, after recovering the tunnel.
In recent weeks, IDF soldiers led by the 162nd Division’s 401st Brigade, in collaboration with Flotilla 13 and the ‘Yahalom’ Unit, discovered and searched three active tunnel shafts near Rantisi Hospital.’Yahalom’ soldiers searched the region, as well as the shafts and tunnels, employing a variety of methods to map the topography of the tunnels and the linkages between the shafts.
Notably, Yahalom is a sayeret unit of the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).According to the IDF, this operation revealed that the shafts are connected by a wide underground network passing under the hospital, spanning several kilometres, and leading to strategic points in the heart of Gaza City.
“The tunnel in Rantisi is close to a school and leads to another school in the area. The tunnel also served as a command and control centre for conducting combat in the northern Gaza Strip and for carrying out terrorist attacks,” the IDF said.The Israeli forces said that the operational shaft was located in a girls’ school in the area was about 20 meters deep and included an elevator and electrical infrastructure.
“Following intelligence information directed by Unit 504 of the Intelligence Directorate, another operational shaft was located inside one of the hideout residences used by one of the commanders of Hamas’ naval unit in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.Junctions and blast doors were placed in the tunnels’ topography to prevent IDF soldiers from breaking in and to secure the tunnel system.
The tunnel infrastructure and shafts were demolished in a coordinated operation by soldiers from the ‘Yahalom’ Unit and engineering soldiers from the 14th Brigade, the IDF added.
The discovery of the shafts near the hospital and school exemplifies Hamas’ unscrupulous use of civilians. Exposing Hamas’ exploitation of Gaza people, especially refugees and children, as human shields.
The Tzabar Battalion and the 52nd Battalion conducted raids and scans of buildings in the hospital area, where major terror infrastructure, including command and control centres, media equipment, maps, aids, and numerous weapons, was discovered.Earlier on Tuesday this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is making “every effort” to bring back the hostages held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and won’t be stopping until it achieves victory, Times of Israel reported.
“We aren’t stopping and we won’t stop until victory because we have no other land and no other path,” he said while being booed by the family members of hostages in Hamas captivity.In the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, troops of the Nahal Brigade raided two schools in Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighbourhoods, CNN reported. The IDF said raids were carried out following intelligence of Hamas operatives hiding at the complexes.
Hamas’s Daraj-Tuffah battalion is believed by the IDF to be the last standing battalion in northern Gaza.
According to the IDF, the troops during the raids encountered and killed several Hamas gunmen. Dozens of explosive devices, assault rifles, and 15 explosive belts were found in the complexes.In one incident, a Hamas terrorist fired a missile from one of the schools at the troops.Netanyahu also visited the war zone in the Palestinian coastal enclave. He said the war against Hamas in Gaza is far from over, The Times of Israel reported.
