Inside the Battle for Gaza City: Israel Uncovers a Hamas Tunnel Under a Hospital

GAZA CITY — The noise from the armored personnel carrier is deafening and dust fills up the air inside the tank as we make our way toward Gaza City with the Israeli army. The journey from border crossing 96 at the center of the Gaza Strip begins with Israeli special forces in a jeep until only an APC can take us to our final destination through extremely bumpy, sandy terrain. After about 30 minutes, when all we’ve seen is sand dunes and occasional shattered buildings, we reach the southern part of Gaza City. As we are hurried out of the APC, we see a city in ruins. Israeli bulldozers and tanks dominate the area. Entire blocks have collapsed into rubble, the shells of apartment buildings stand hollowed out. We are rushed into a building that used to be an apartment block as loud explosions tell us we are in the most active war zone in Gaza. Inside the abandoned building, traces of ordinary life linger — kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms now strewn with debris and broken glass, washing machines upended, furniture smashed, and walls pockmarked with bullet holes and graffiti. Today, the IDF’s 36th division is using the building to show us their most recent proof that Hamas is exploiting civil infrastructure for military purposes. According to one of the military officials who brief us on the discovery, the army found a Hamas tunnel inside the Jordanian hospital’s compound a few hundred meters from where we stand. “The hospital is right behind the building with the red roof,” the military official says, pointing out from the window from the second floor of the building. The 1.5 kilometers-long tunnel was found two weeks ago after the Jordanian hospital staff left. It’s between 18 meters and 25 meters deep, and housed some 50 Hamas members, according to the official. IDF drone footage shown to us on screens inside the building clearly discloses a tunnel shaft inside a small building on the hospital compound. Other footage from a different drone inside the tunnel shows what appears to be machines used for producing rockets as well as bathrooms and living rooms used by Hamas members. To verify the IDF’s drone footage of the tunnel, AFP was granted permission to fly a drone from the rooftop down to the hospital. The footage shows the same; a tunnel shaft inside the hospital compound. When asked what happened to the Hamas members who used to tunnel, the military official says that they left along with Jordanian hospital staff members. “Over the last two years Hamas took advantage of this hospital and the Jordanians knew about this,” the official said. IDF also uncovered Hamas tunnels under the Al Shifa hospital early in the war, while Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was killed in an Israeli airstrike as he hid under the European Hospital. A number of now released hostages have also testified that they were held at both Al Shifa and Nasser hospital during their captivity. Snipers and HostagesOne of the main challenges for the Israeli army in Gaza City is Hamas’ use of snipers. They are often stationed in civilian high-rise buildings, which gives the sniper a vantage point. The IDF therefore issued numerous evacuation orders for dozens of high-rise buildings before launching precise airstrikes to take them down. The threat of snipers is also present in our location, causing the IDF to tell us not to stand for too long outside as it leaves us exposed. With some 200.000 civilians still left in the city, IDF has its work cut out for it when trying to hit Hamas and avoid civilian casualties at the same time. A combination of evacuation orders and tanks rolling into the city sped up the evacuation in recent weeks. It has, however, also given Hamas members a chance to leave the city along with the roughly 800.000 civilians. Setting up check points and screening everyone to prevent Hamas members from fleeing would have taken “months,” an official said. The IDF estimates that there are still thousands of active Hamas members inside the city, where they operate in small groups using guerrilla warfare tactics. Just two weeks ago, a tank officer, Major Shahar Netanel Bozaglo, 27, was killed when a Hamas member fired an RPG at his tank a few hundred meters from where we are. The military official says that Israel is prepared to destroy all Hamas infrastructure, even if it’s embedded in civilian buildings. As for the civilians who remain in Gaza City, the IDF might soon close evacuation routes, according to the military official.Such a move would most likely trigger international condemnation. One of Israel’s key reasons for invading Gaza City, though, is to locate and free the remaining 48 hostages, most of whom are believed to be held there. Six of the hostages belonged to the 36th division, making the mission for the Israeli soldiers all the more personal. The military official does, however, admit that the IDF doesn’t know where they are held. The army is therefore moving forward slowly in order not to endanger the hostages — a task that seems almost impossible and highly risky. A few hours after APCs and military jeeps bring us back safely to Israel, Hamas announces it had agreed in principle to President Trump’s peace plan that would end the war in Gaza and free all 48 hostages. The announcement is welcomed by Mr. Trump, who ordered Israel to halt all strikes in Gaza. The terror group wants to negotiate further and clarify certain points in the plan, including the timeline for the release of all hostages as it seems “unrealistic” to free them all within 72 hours. If all goes well, the smoke curling into the sky behind us as we leave Gaza City could be the last of this war.

Inside the Battle for Gaza City: Israel Uncovers a Hamas Tunnel Under a Hospital

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