Israel claims to have uncovered secret Hamas lair underneath children’s hospital

In video footage posted by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on social media, spokesman Daniel Hagari uncovers an underground tunnel, located outside a building he identifies as the house of a Hamas militant.

The tunnel leads underneath the nearby al-Rentisi hospital.

As the video continues, Admiral Hagari explores the basement of the hospital, and highlights a room full of military gear.

“I want to show you a room where we found all the gear, the operational gear of Hamas,” Admiral Hagari says.

“Look at what Hamas is holding inside the hospital.”

“I want you to understand: this kind of gear is the gear for a major fight. These are explosives. These are vests with explosives. It’s a body vest for terrorists to explode on forces, among hospitals, among patients,” says Admiral Hagari.

“We have hand grenades, Kalashnikovs (assault rifles), and then we have the RPGs. People shooting RPGs from hospitals. This is Hamas, firing RPGs from hospitals. The world has to understand who Israel is fighting against.”

The video then proceeds deeper into the basement of the hospital, where Admiral Hagari says Israeli forces found a motorcycle used in the attack on October 7.

“They came back from the massacre on the seventh of October, into al-Rentisi hospital, with hostages on a motorcycle,” he said.

“This is a suspicion for an area where hostages were being held.”

The area in the footage also includes a chair with a rope next to it. A baby’s bottle is visible on top of an electricity breaker, labelled with the words “World Health Organisation”. There is also a bathroom, which Admiral Hagari again cites as proof that hostages were kept there.

“You don’t need to build, improvisedly, in a hospital in the basement, unless you want to hold someone there and you don’t want anyone to see,” he says.

Fighting continued to rage in Gaza on Tuesday, local time, more than five weeks after Hamas’s shock October 7 attack sparked a furious response from Israel, which has vowed to destroy the Palestinian militant group.

About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel and around 240 hostages taken, according to Israeli officials.

In Gaza, more than 11,200 people, also mostly civilians, have been killed, according to the healthy ministry, which is under Hamas’s control.

At least 179 people, including babies and patients who died in the intensive care unit, were buried in a “mass grave” at Gaza’s biggest hospital, said director Mohammad Abu Salmiya.

Seven babies and 29 intensive care patients were among those buried after hospital fuel supplies ran out at the compound, which is caught in intense fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as hideouts, a charge the militant group has denied and AFP cannot independently verify – the video mentioned above is among the evidence Israel has cited.

US President Joe Biden urged Israel on Monday to protect Gaza’s main hospital as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas raged around the complex.

“It’s my hope and expectation that there will be less intrusive action relative to the hospital,” Mr Biden told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he had expressed concerns to Israel on the issue.

“The hospital must be protected.”

Israel was facing mounting international pressure over the human cost of its war with Gaza’s Hamas rulers but was working to expand its “window of legitimacy”, its top diplomat said Monday.

“We have two or three weeks until international pressure really steps up but the foreign ministry is working to broaden the window of legitimacy, and the fighting will carry on for as long as necessary,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said, as quoted by his spokesman.

As Israel’s ground campaign advanced, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas had “lost control” of Gaza.

“Terrorists are fleeing southward. Civilians are looting Hamas bases,” he said on Israeli television, without providing evidence for the claim.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned on Monday its Gaza operations might shut down due to fuel shortages.

“The humanitarian operation in Gaza will grind to a halt in the next 48 hours as no fuel is allowed to enter,” UNRWA’s Gaza chief Thomas White wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Gaza has been under near-total Israeli siege and is short of food, fuel and other basic supplies.

– with AFP