IDF says troops destroyed 3 shafts connecting to tunnel under Gaza hospital
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF announces that it has located and destroyed three tunnel shafts in the area of Gaza City’s Rantisi Children’s Hospital that connect to underground passages beneath the medical center used by the Hamas terror group.
In November, the IDF showed what it said was proof that the basement of Rantisi was used by Hamas to hide arms and possibly hold hostages kidnapped on October 7. It also revealed one of the tunnel shafts in the area at the time.
In recent weeks, the IDF’s 401st Brigade, Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit and elite Yahalom combat engineering unit investigated and mapped out three tunnel shafts found in the area of Rantisi.
The IDF says the operations revealed that the three shafts “are connected by a wide underground network that runs under the hospital, is several kilometers long and leads to strategic points in the heart of Gaza City.”
It says the tunnel at Rantisi was used by Hamas as a command center to manage the fighting against Israel.
One of the shafts, found in a high school adjacent to Rantisi, has an elevator heading down some 20 meters, according to the IDF. Another shaft, found in the home of a… pic.twitter.com/4BJKkgmbs0
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 27, 2023
It says the tunnel at Rantisi was used by Hamas as a command center to manage the fighting against Israel.
One of the shafts, found in a high school adjacent to Rantisi, has an elevator heading down some 20 meters, according to the IDF. Another shaft, found in the home of a commander in Hamas’s naval forces, featured a blast door to prevent troops from entering, it says.
After being investigated, the tunnel network was demolished by combat engineers.
