(New York Times) Matthew Rosenberg - Israeli security officials say Hamas has spent 16 years building a vast command complex under Shifa hospital in Gaza City, and setting up similar bases underneath other medical facilities. American officials agree, citing their own intelligence. Israeli officials said the hospital was spared in past Israeli operations out of concern for civilian life, but at the cost of leaving what is underneath it intact. It is a mistake that Israel will not repeat this time. The complex under Shifa is one of the principal Israeli targets of the war. Israel said Sunday it was securing a route for civilians and patients to leave Shifa. Israel has released a 3-D representation of the Hamas command complex beneath the hospital, audio recordings of Hamas fighters discussing the tunnels under Shifa, and videos of captured militants discussing the tunnels. A former senior official at the Israel Security Agency said the compound included several floors with spaces for meetings, living quarters and storage facilities. It can hold at least several hundred people. Israeli military intelligence said "there are several underground complexes used by the leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas to direct their activities." Israeli intelligence officials showed the Times photos of secret entrances to the compound from inside the hospital. American officials said they are confident that Hamas has used tunnel networks under hospitals, in particular Shifa, for command and control areas as well as for weapons storage.
2023-11-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive