The New York Times verified that both videos shared by the Israel Defense Forces were recorded at al-Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces stormed last week. The videos give an exclusive look into the tunnels that run under the al-Shifa Hospital complex.
The al-Shifa Hospital has become widely discussed in the media globally, due to information revealing Hamas was hiding weapons, terrorists and hostages within the hospital and its corresponding tunnels underneath. In short, the Hamas terror group was using innocent and sick civilians as shelter.
Two separate videos, one apparently recorded by a drone and the other by an animal or a robot, show a damaged spiral staircase leading down to a 55-meter section of fortified tunnel. The IDF says the tunnel runs ten meters beneath al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City — the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. The 55-meter section of the tunnel ends at a blast-proof door complete with a firing hole, apparently built by Hamas to shoot through in the case of an Israeli incursion.
Israeli soldiers have not yet penetrated the door at the end of the filmed section of tunnel due to possible booby traps, the Israel Security Agency said in a statement Sunday evening. “This type of door is used by the Hamas terrorist organization to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas.”
Israel’s military also released CCTV footage on Sunday which appears to show Hamas bringing hostages to al-Shifa. One of the hostages is seen being marched through the hospital, with his arms held behind his back as he is pushed forward by a Hamas militant. Another is seen bleeding on a gurney.
National Review reports on the significance of the hospital:
The U.N. and various humanitarian groups have chastised Israel for carrying out raids on hospitals in Gaza, insisting that they are humanitarian sites that should not be subject to military action. Israel has responded by producing significant video evidence that the terror organization was stashing weapons and military communications equipment inside several Gaza hospitals.
The IDF released video last week showing AK-47 rifles, grenades, and other explosives that were being stored in the basement of al-Shifa hospital. The video also showed that all of the hospital’s security cameras had been covered, presumably to prevent the recording of terrorist activities.
