The Israeli navy launched a statement on Sunday saying it had discovered a Hamas tunnel shaft below Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital. It additionally launched footage of tunnels taken on November 17. Here’s what the footage tells us:
What occurred at al-Shifa?
On November 15, Israel launched an aggressive raid on Gaza’s largest medical complicated, al-Shifa Hospital. Lasting for days, the raid was described by Israel as a “exact and focused” operation to search out an alleged underground tunnel system that led to a Hamas navy management centre.
The allegation that Hamas was working a management centre below the hospital was backed by Israeli and United States intelligence. Hamas and medical employees at al-Shifa have denied this allegation.
The Israeli navy additionally launched a 3D animated video on October 28, visualising an in depth community of tunnels that led to an elaborate, multi-storey management centre.
What Israel’s new tunnel video tells us
On Sunday, Israel announced {that a} 55-metre-long (180ft), 10-metre-deep (32ft) tunnel was discovered below the hospital.
The assertion stated that the tunnel was discovered “within the space of the hospital beneath a shed alongside a car containing quite a few weapons together with RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], explosives, and Kalashnikov rifles”.
The Israeli navy additionally launched a video that was recorded utilizing two separate cameras on November 17. Spokesperson Daniel Hagari informed reporters the doorway was uncovered when a navy bulldozer knocked down the skin wall of the hospital, revealing a metallic spiral staircase that descended 10m (32ft) and led to a blast door, which is usually a metallic door with robust closures and hinges, designed to withstand explosions. Such doorways are often discovered on amenities similar to bomb shelters.
However navy analyst Zoran Kusovac quoted a civil engineer from Gaza who steered that the video is definitely clips of two completely different tunnels spliced collectively.
The primary part of the video reveals the vertical shaft that goes down. It reveals options similar to load-bearing concrete columns. They appear to be constructed with common civil engineering strategies, which might have required giant and loud machines similar to concrete mixers.
Such a development couldn’t have been executed in secret, the best way Hamas tunnels are often constructed. The aim of this development stays unknown.
The second a part of the clip reveals the horizontal tunnel. This shows options attribute of Hamas tunnels — pre-fabricated items linked collectively part by part.
Was a Hamas management centre discovered below Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital?
A management centre has not been discovered thus far. Israeli troops haven’t but tried to open the blast door on the finish of the tunnel that they declare was below al-Shifa, fearing it may very well be booby-trapped, stated Hagari.
Kusovac stated that many various kinds of traps will be positioned to stop tunnel interceptions. Sometimes, they’re improvised explosive gadgets (IEDs) linked with detonators that may be triggered by tripwire and even gentle or strain. They detect the presence of an individual getting into the tunnel, setting off the explosive. “IEDs are mainly like toys the large boys make. The extra inventive you might be, the extra profitable you might be,” stated Kusovac.
If armies suspect the presence of such traps, typical rules are to name explosion specialists who arrive and assess the state of affairs. Kusovac stated that this often takes a number of hours, not over a day. This time delay brings the veracity of the Israeli navy’s claims into query. “You say smoking gun, you get to it and then you definitely don’t present the smoking gun,” he stated.
CNN, amongst different information shops, visited the uncovered tunnel shaft and confirmed the presence of a tunnel, however couldn’t set up whether or not or not the tunnel led to a command centre.
Does Hamas function underground tunnels?
Tunnels in Gaza have been first built in 1980 at a time when the enclave was below Israeli occupation, and earlier than the formation of Hamas in 1987. They have been constructed below the Egyptian border for smuggling all kinds of products, together with weapons, gasoline and black market items.
Over time, Palestinians realised that tunnels might have a navy use. The first sign of the navy use of tunnels was in 2001 when an Israeli navy put up was blown up with an explosive from underground. The tunnels entered Israeli public consciousness when Palestinian fighters emerged from a tunnel shaft and kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006.
Israel positioned a blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas gained management of it in 2007. Tunnels grew to become the means to bypass the siege and to move meals, items and weapons. Underneath Hamas, the tunnels expanded strategically.
The tunnels are additionally utilized by Hamas for wired communications, since Israel can intercept wi-fi communications.
After attacking Gaza in 2014, Israel realised the extent and class of the tunnels, then believed to have surpassed 100km (62 miles).
A tunnel war would entail a complete lot of destruction. The magnitude of explosives could be larger and deadlier than typical because of the smaller space of the tunnels. For a similar motive, using common ammunition is perhaps too “clumsy” and therefore unviable.
Al-Shifa is just not the one hospital that Israel has alleged is utilized by Hamas as a navy base. On November 8, Al Jazeera’s verification unit Sanad disproved Israel’s declare that there was a Hamas tunnel below the Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics, generally generally known as the Qatari Hospital.
Satellite tv for pc pictures and archival images confirmed that the hatch that Israel claimed was the tunnel entrance was really a part of a water reservoir system that was used to fill therapeutic swimming pools for amputees, water the grounds, and in addition was an emergency water supply.
An Al Jazeera digital investigation discovered no grounds to the Israeli forces declare that there’s a Hamas tunnel below Gaza’s Sheikh Hamad Hospital ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/4640OprGwk
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 7, 2023
