Israel agreed to withdraw its troops from Al Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's largest medical institution, without completing its probe and demolition of an underground tunnel network found underneath it as part of a November agreement with Hamas to release Israeli and foreign nationals held captive by the terrorist group, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
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The tunnel below the facility is 213 meters long (700 feet) and extends beyond the hospital and likely connects to Hamas’ larger underground network.
The Times quoted Israeli and Qatari officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, who said Israel had to leave the hospital to comply with the terms of a temporary cease-fire in late November as part of the hostage release deal.
American officials told the Times that their own intelligence backs up the Israeli case that Hamas used the hospital and the tunnel system under it for military needs, including evidence that at least a few hostages were held there. "American intelligence also indicates that Hamas fighters evacuated the complex days before Israeli forces moved into Al-Shifa, destroying documents and electronics as they left," the Times reported.
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IDF troops in a Hamas tunnel beneath Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza
(Photo: Victor R. Caivano / AP)
3 View gallery
CCTV footage shows Hamas terrorists bringing Israeli captives to Al Shifa
(Photo: Shin Bet)
The report said Hamas used the hospital for cover, stored weapons inside it and maintained a hardened tunnel beneath the complex that was supplied with water, power and air-conditioning.
classified images reviewed by The Times indicated that the soldiers found underground bunkers, living quarters and a room that appeared to be wired for computers and communications equipment along a part of the tunnel beyond the hospital — chambers that were not visible in the images released at the time.