One of the main targets of the Israeli army is the underground headquarters of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas hidden under the largest hospital in Gaza City, Al Shifa, Israel said.
As Israel’s invasion of Gaza draws closer, the Israel Defense Forces have outlined the need to destroy a 300-mile network of Hamas tunnels, which allegedly run under several medical facilities including Al Shifa and link to the terrorist’s main command center there.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari named Al Shifa as the base of several underground hubs used collectively by the Hamas leadership.
On Sunday, Hagari released a layout of medical facilities, outlining at least five entrances to the “Hamas Underground Complex” allegedly housed at Al Shifa Hospital.
The IDF has claimed that “hundreds of terrorists flooded hospitals to hide there after the massacre on Oct. 7” in Israel.
The Israeli military also accused Hamas of using energy reserves in hospitals to power its terror infrastructure while other medical facilities ran out of fuel.
The IDF released visuals of the alleged underground Hamas headquarters under Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. TBN Israel
“Gaza is the biggest terrorist base ever built by man,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters Tuesday.
“This whole city is one big terrorist base. Underground, kilometers of tunnels connect to hospitals, to schools, they are interconnected. It contains communications rooms, ammunition depots, sleeping quarters, and everything to be a terror base from which Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers can be harmed.”
Hamas has repeatedly denied the allegations, arguing that the IDF was seeking justification for targeting hospitals and other civilian areas.
Al Shifa allegedly has five underground bases from which Hamas directs its terrorist attacks. TBN Israel
Avi Issacharoff, a former member of the ultra-elite IDF unit and creator of the Yes network’s award-winning hit “Fauda,” has said the underground headquarters is an open secret.
“I swear, every child in Gaza knows there is a Hamas headquarters under Shifa, but no one talks about it,” Issacharoff said, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel recently launched airstrikes around Al Shifa, with the latest bombing taking out the hospital’s solar panels Monday, threatening its power system, Al Jazeera reported.
Last week, Israel also claimed responsibility for a strike that caused an ambulance outside Al Shifa. Palestinian officials said the explosion killed at least 15 people.
Along with Al Shifa, the IDF accused several other medical centers of hosting Hamas, including the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia.
The medical facility is the largest hospital complex in Gaza City. REUTERS An ambulance at the hospital was hit last week. Reuters
The Indonesian-funded medical center, located in northern Gaza near the border with Israel, was accused of harboring Hamas agents after the IDF released evidence Sunday of alleged terrorist tunnels in at least two local hospitals.
“Hamas systematically built the Indonesian Hospital to disguise its underground terror infrastructure,” Hagari told reporters.
The layout of the ground leads to a tunnel entrance in the corner of one of the hospital buildings, along with a nearby rocket launcher.
Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry slammed the IDF for the accusations, reiterating that the hospital was built for Palestinians living in the area and not for Hamas’ terror tactics.
“The Indonesian Hospital in Gaza is a facility built by Indonesians entirely for humanitarian purposes and to meet the medical needs of the Palestinians in Gaza,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The IDF also presented tunnels and rocket systems it allegedly found at the Indonesian Hospital. IDF
Officials added that the medical facility was struggling to treat those wounded in the war, noting that Indonesia “is treating patients in numbers that far exceed its capacity.”
Sarbini Abdul Murad, chairman of the MER-C volunteer group that funds the hospital, said the IDF’s demand was only “a precondition so they can attack the Indonesian hospital in Gaza.”
Murad also warned that the hospital was running out of fuel and could be said to “collapse” on Tuesday.
Indonesia said it funded the Indonesian Hospital to serve the Palestinian people. Indonesian Hospital
Along with the accusations leveled at the Indonesian Hospital, Hagari claimed a tunnel entrance was found at the Sheikh Hamad Hospital in Gaza, with video also showing Hamas firing at Israeli soldiers from the medical center.
Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas has been operating inside the hospital, through its elaborate underground tunnel system to avoid detection by the IDF.
It remains unclear how the IDF plans to attack the tunnels it claims exist in the hospital without endangering civilian lives.
Hospital officials operating in Gaza have long said they are reluctant to evacuate the facility given the number of critically ill people and babies in incubators, as well as tens of thousands of civilians sheltering in the building.
The IDF highlights the entrance to an underground tunnel at Sheikh Hamad Hospital in Gaza. IDF
The IDF has delivered repeated warnings to hospitals, with airstrikes continuing to hit several medical facilities.
“Human shields are the mainstay of Hamas’ terror operations,” Hagari said. “Hamas systematically exploits hospitals as a vital part of its war machine.”
On Sunday, at least eight people were killed at the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza City when the area was hit by Israeli missiles, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Suleiman Qaoud, a doctor at a large medical complex, told Al Jazeera that “solar panels and water tanks” were damaged during the airstrikes, leaving his hospital without “a drop of running water.”
Video released Sunday showed Hamas fighters walking in and out of Sheikh Hamad Hospital, Israel.IDF said
To prevent damage to civilian infrastructure, experts have said the IDF will use a new weapon called a “sponge bomb” to make the tunnel a major vulnerability for Hamas.
The new bomb consists of a chemical compound that quickly expands and hardens when released, allowing Israeli soldiers to seal off passages in tunnels.
The device would leave Hamas fighters without escape and allow Israeli commandos to secure passage while searching for hostages, according to reports.
With Postal wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
