The Israeli Army announced this Monday the discovery of a 10-kilometer-long underground tunnel in the Gaza Strip, the center of a network that connected the north and south of the enclave.
“It is a 10-kilometer-long terrorist tunnel that passes under a hospital and a university,” the Army said in a statement, accompanied by photos and videos of the discovery in Gaza City.
The 162nd Division located a network of underground tunnels connecting the northern and southern Gaza Strip and achieved “operational control” of the tunnel mouths before destroying much of the network.
The network of tunnels connects the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, located in the south of Gaza City, borders the campus of the University of Israa and reaches the Zaytun neighborhood, further southeast of the capital.
“In the last week we have carried out extensive operational activity around the Turkish hospital, where we found a tunnel 18 meters deep and two exits,” said the head of operations of the Nahal Brigade, Major Ron, about the discovery. which opened the way to the network of tunnels.
In Zaytun, Israeli troops have resumed their military activity with intense fighting with the Islamist Hamas militias since last week, after withdrawing from the area in January.
”This network of tunnels is used by Hamas terrorists to move between different brigades in the Gaza Strip, including the Central Brigade and the Gaza City Brigade, among them the Nuseirat, Sabra and Zaytun battalions,” the Army reported. .
Inside the tunnels, troops located rooms including bathrooms, weapons and combat equipment storage, as well as bodies of abandoned militiamen, he added.
”Hamas has spent millions of dollars building an underground network of terrorist tunnels used for its military activities under schools, hospitals and residences throughout the Gaza Strip,” said the Israeli Army, which says it has found tunnels under hospitals such as the Shifa or UNRWA schools.
Almost 29,700 Gazans have died in less than five months of war and almost 70,000 have been wounded, more than 70% women and children.
Israel claims to have killed about 12,000 Hamas militants, although the group lowers the number of casualties in its ranks to about 6,000.
Israeli troops have suffered 240 soldier deaths in combat, in addition to about 330 who died during the Hamas attacks on October 7, which left a total of about 1,200 dead and 250 kidnapped.
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