The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released footage Monday showing the demolition of a major tunnel network in Gaza that stretched over six miles long, multiple outlets reported.
The tunnel network passed under the “Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital and a nearby university” in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF, Emanuel Fabian — a military correspondent for The Times of Israel — noted in a tweet. (RELATED: Netanyahu Pushes Back On Margaret Brennan’s ‘Grenades,’ Claims Israeli People Are ‘United’ Behind His Plan)
“According to the IDF, the tunnel was used by both Hamas’s Gaza City and Central Camps brigades, to move operatives between the areas. The IDF says it discovered living quarters, bathrooms, and weapons depots in the tunnels, as well as the bodies of several Hamas operatives. Major sections of the tunnel network were destroyed in a large blast,” Fabian tweeted alongside a nearly two-minute video clip of the tunnel system.
The IDF reveals it has uncovered a major Hamas tunnel network in central and northern Gaza, which it says passes under a hospital and university.
Troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, Nahal Infantry Brigade, and other forces under the 162nd Division recently… pic.twitter.com/qhebKoys39
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 26, 2024
The video starts with an English-language infographic showing a map of the major tunnel system with its numerous shafts connecting north and south Gaza. The IDF infographic also highlighted the position of the Turkish hospital and Israa university, which the tunnel passed through.
Video clips layered on top of the labeled map then show weapons and explosives found in the tunnel system as well as a tour — apparently conducted by a drone — of one section of the complex.
The video concludes with the IDF detonating explosives to collapse sections of the tunnel network.
Another IDF video that offered a different view of the tunnel complex was tweeted out by Joe Truzman, a Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior analyst.
The IDF says it located a ten kilometer-long tunnel passing underneath the Turkish hospital and under the Israa university south of Gaza City. This tunnel network is used by Hamas to move different brigades in Gaza, including the Central Brigade and the Gaza City Brigades. pic.twitter.com/HJdcOPig2Z
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) February 26, 2024
The video featured an aerial perspective showing a number of tunnel shafts and their close proximity to the Turkish hospital.
The Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip began after Hamas, the terrorist organization governing the area, launched an attack on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 Israelis and taking over 200 captive. Hamas fighters in Gaza rely extensively on the vast tunnel system the terror organization constructed, much of which reportedly passes through residential areas and other protected sites, like the U.N. Relief and Works Agency’s headquarters.
