Moment Israeli forces blow up ‘several miles’ of Hamas tunnels where Oct 7 hostages were held in massive explosion
ISRAEL has blown up “several miles” of an underground terror complex located dangerously near one of Gaza’s largest hospitals.
The network of tunnels in the heart of Gaza City is where the IDF claims Hamas hid and held hostages in the aftermath of their October 7 killing spree.
The IDF previously argued that the Hamas monsters returned from their massacre in southern Israel straight to the al Rantisi children’s hospital and hunkered down in terror tunnels beneath it.
Chilling new footage shows huge explosions rocking the now ruinous hellscape of Gaza’s largest city as the IDF destroyed the subterranean Hamas stronghold.
“The IDF located and destroyed three terror tunnel shafts belonging to the Hamas terror organisation near the Rantisi Hospital and in the nearby high school,” the IDF said.
“The tunnel shafts, dozens of meters deep, are connected by an underground network passing under the hospital and leading to the heart of Gaza City,” it stated.
Hamas has denied placing terror infrastructure near to civilian sites, including schools, hospitals and mosques – but Israel has resolutely sought to prove otherwise.
“The exposure of the shafts near the hospital and school once again demonstrate Hamas’s cynical use of the civilian population,” the IDF said.
“[It exposes] Hamas’s use of the residents of the Gaza Strip, including refugees and children, as human shields.”
In mid-November, the IDF claimed to have uncovered an underground command centre beneath al Rantisi – stuffed with an arsenal of weapons.
The terror lair was also littered with babies‘ nappies and bottles – possibly indicating hostages could have been held there.
Troops said they found explosive belts, grenades, weapons and RPG missiles in the hospital’s basement.
A motorcycle with gunshot marks was also found, which according to Israeli military officials, was used by Hamas terrorists in the October 7 massacre.
The discovery came only days after Israel said it wiped out a Hamas commander who held a thousand terrified Palestinian civilians hostage inside al Rantisi.
The huge coordinated blast comes as heavy firefights rage around bomb-blitzed Gaza City as Israeli troops attempt to encircle the entire urban centre.
Meanwhile, the IDF ferociously pushes on with its offensive into the southern city of Khan Younis as they close in on Hamas’s top brass, including “Gaza’s Bin Laden”.
Israel’s net is closing on the terror group’s senior leadership who are believed to have fled south.
Yahya Sinwar reportedly evaded death twice last week by escaping through tunnels, while Israel blew up the house of Mohammed Deif – the one-eyed architect of October 7.
Israel, shielded by the US, has resisted international pressure to scale back its offensive and has said it would press on until Hamas has been totally eliminated.
Months of fighting lie ahead in southern Gaza – which Israel has dubbed “the new capital of terror” – but is an area densely packed with the majority of the enclave’s 2.3 million people who earlier fled the fighting in the north.
With homes destroyed, they are living in crowded shelters and struggling to find food, fuel, water and medical supplies. Diseases are spreading and communications have been repeatedly cut.
The Hamas-run Gazan health authorities claim that over 21,000 have been killed since Israel began its relentless bombardment and invasion of the densely-populated enclave.
This allegedly includes at least 8,000 children and 6,200 women. Although, the claims cannot be independently verified and are disputed by Israel.
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being worse than Adolf HItler.
He fumed on Wednesday: “They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler?
“Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did?”
Netanyahu shot back: “Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us.”
Yesterday, Israel handed over the bodies of 80 Palestinians killed in the conflict in Gaza in recent weeks.
The bodies had been held by Israel to check there were no hostages among them before eventually being sent back through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Today, Hamas claimed that 33 Brits including 15 kids and a six-month-old baby would be allowed to escape Gaza through the Rafah crossing today.
Despite ongoing calls for a permanent ceasefire, Israeli leaders said on Tuesday they were steeled for two more years of war in Gaza.
Ministers were told the army is about to enter phase three of the war to wipe out the terror group as a military force that could be finished by summer or in two years.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: “The war in Gaza will be a long, hard war. It has costs — heavy costs — but its justification is the highest that can be. We need determination, endurance, strength and national cohesion with the goals.”