Israel continues to eliminate Hamas infrastructure in Gaza Strip
The war between Hamas and Israel continues to intensify. The Israeli army continues to attack intensively in the centre and south of the Gaza Strip in response to the terrible attack committed by the Palestinian armed group on 7 October in Israeli territory.
Thus, despite recent calls for a ceasefire, Israel has intensified its offensives in central and southern Gaza. Several civilians were killed in the recent shelling of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip and the attack on the town of Al-Zuwaida, also in the centre of the territory.
IDF troops are uncovering Hamas’ tunnels inside and around multiple hospitals within Gaza.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 27, 2023
The Rantisi Hospital is just another terrorist stronghold used to connect and transfer terrorists and weapons throughout Gaza to be used against Israelis. pic.twitter.com/aYBkpgsfn9
It was also reported in recent hours that Israeli fighters dropped several bombs on the centre of the town of Khan Younis and on farmland north of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
Clearing Hamas infrastructure in Gaza
While Israel continues to maintain that the offensives are primarily targeting infrastructure of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the struggle to eradicate the armed movement, the main Israeli objective remains the dismantling of Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. The main Israeli objective remains the dismantling of Hamas's system of facilities in Gaza to prevent further threats.
According to military sources, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) recently located and destroyed three tunnel infrastructures belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation near Rantisi Hospital and in the nearby High School; the tunnel shafts, tens of metres deep, are connected by an underground network that runs under the hospital and leads to the heart of Gaza City.
According to Israeli reports, in recent weeks, IDF soldiers led by the 401st Brigade of the 162nd Division, in cooperation with Flotilla 13 and the "Yahalom" Unit, located and searched these three operational tunnel shafts near Rantisi Hospital. Soldiers from "Yahalom" searched the area along with the shafts and tunnels, using various means to map the topography of the tunnels and the connections between the shafts.
Here’s more evidence connecting Hamas’ terrorist activities to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 25, 2023
The finding of these vehicles directly links the hospital to the brutal events of the October 7 massacre. pic.twitter.com/sGPymtmj0O
This operation revealed that the shafts are connected by an extensive underground network that runs under the hospital, stretches for several kilometres and leads to strategic points in the heart of Gaza. The Rantisi tunnel is close to a school and leads to another educational centre in the area. The tunnel also served as a command and control centre for conducting fighting in the northern Gaza Strip and for carrying out terrorist attacks, according to the same IDF sources.
The operational shaft located in a local girls' school is approximately 20 metres deep and includes a lift and electrical infrastructure. Following intelligence led 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 the Hamas naval unit in the Gaza Strip, according to the same sources.
The topography of the tunnels revealed joints and armoured doors designed to prevent IDF soldiers from entering and to protect the tunnels' infrastructure from damage. According to military sources, a joint operation by soldiers of the "Yahalom" unit and engineer soldiers of the 14th Brigade made it possible to destroy the infrastructure and shafts of the tunnels.
"The location of the shafts near the hospital and school demonstrates once again Hamas's cynical use of the civilian population; the exposure of Hamas's use of Gaza Strip residents, including refugees and children, as human shields," reports from Israel said.
In addition, during the fighting in the hospital area, soldiers from the 401st and 460th brigades killed dozens of terrorists. As part of the activity, the "Tzabar" battalion and the 52nd battalion conducted raids and building searches in the hospital area, where significant terrorist infrastructure was found, including command and control centres, media equipment, maps, aids and numerous weapons, as noted by these sources.
1,500 tunnel shafts and underground passages have been exposed in Gaza by our troops since the beginning of the war.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 19, 2023
Most of these have been found beneath schools, hospitals, mosques, @UN facilities and civilian institutions.
Our troops have located and destroyed hundreds of… pic.twitter.com/a82KbuWVVx
The IDF also recently uncovered a four-kilometre-long Hamas tunnel. In a statement, the Israeli army said the underground infrastructure was "wide enough for a large vehicle to pass through, reaches up to 50 metres underground and is equipped with electricity, ventilation and communication systems".
This tunnel did not cross Israel, but ended 400 metres before the Erez crossing on the northern border between Israel and Gaza, which was closed. This crossing was breached by Hamas during the 7 October attacks and was used daily by 8,500 Gazans to enter Israeli territory to work.
The IDF indicated that this tunnel constituted part of the "strategic infrastructure" and believes it was used as a launching point for attacks as well as for "Hamas troop movements".
In addition to this long, deep tunnel, the IDF has continued to uncover and disable "hundreds" of similar infrastructures throughout the Gaza Strip, where the IDF is working to dismantle the Hamas network.
