Israel army says 55m tunnel found under Gaza hospital

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military on Nov 19 said it had uncovered a tunnel under Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital that stretched 55m beneath the war-torn complex where troops have been conducting a major operation.

“IDF troops exposed a 55m-long terror tunnel 10m deep underneath the Shifa hospital complex” which ran under the hospital and ended at a blast door, an army statement said.

Al-Shifa hospital has become a focal point for Israeli operations, with the army claiming Hamas uses it as a base. Gaza’s Hamas rulers and medical staff at the hospital have denied the accusations.

Military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters the entrance was uncovered when a military bulldozer knocked down the outside wall of the hospital complex and found a fortified shaft with a spiral staircase descending 10m.

“It’s a huge one which has metal (spiral) stairs, then it goes along for 55m... and reaches a blast door,” said Rear-Admiral Hagari, indicating troops had not yet tried to open the door for fear it would be booby trapped.

The tunnel contains electricity wires and there is a small slot at the blast-proof door through which to fire weapons.  

Beyond the door, intelligence suggested either the tunnel would either split or there would be “a big room for command and control”, Rear-Adm Hagari added, saying troops would continue searching the area as there could be access shafts from nearby houses.

Troops also discovered a white Toyota pickup truck containing “RPGs, explosives, grenades, (and) AK-47s” inside the hospital compound, which Rear-Adm Hagari said was “identical” to those used by Hamas militants when they attacked Israel on Oct 7.

When the army first entered Al-Shifa on Nov 15, there were “around 2,000 people inside”, Rear-Adm Hagari said, describing the huge hospital complex as covering an area of “more than 20 acres”, or eight hectares.

Israel has pounded Gaza relentlessly from the air, land and sea since Oct 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping some 240 others, Israeli authorities said.

Since then, health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say Israel’s campaign has killed at least 13,000 people, also mostly civilians.

The operation in Al-Shifa has drawn widespread international condemnation, with the World Health Organisation describing the hospital as a “death zone” after sending in a team to visit the facility on Nov 18.

The visit came after hundreds fled the hospital following what Al-Shifa’s director said were Israeli army orders for it to be emptied, with an AFP journalist seeing crowds of sick, injured and displaced people fleeing on foot. AFP