War in the Middle East
Israel: Largest Hamas tunnel system uncovered
Israeli soldiers say they have found the largest Hamas tunnel network. photo
© Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
The tunnels are considered an “underground terror city”: soldiers have dug the largest tunnel system in Gaza. The US Secretary of Defense wants to urge the Israelis to show moderation. The overview.
During their military operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli armed forces say they uncovered the Islamist Hamas’ largest tunnel system. The facility is more than four kilometers long, around 50 meters deep and is located near the Erez border crossing Israel and the sealed-off coastal area, the military said. According to media reports, the tunnel route, which is around three meters wide, ends in Jabalia. The refugee district in the north of the Gaza Strip is considered a Hamas stronghold.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin began a multi-day trip to the region. On Sunday he first visited Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss the military situation in the Middle East, according to the ministry in Washington. This should also include the formation of multilateral coalitions to respond to “aggressions at sea” that threatened shipping and the global economy. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have repeatedly attacked Israel with drones and missiles and attacked ships in the Red Sea.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups carried out in Israel on October 7th. Israel responded with massive air strikes and began a ground offensive in late October.
Hamas tunnel system even designed for vehicles
According to Israeli forces, Hamas’s vast tunnel system under the Gaza Strip is also designed to launch attacks on Israel. The facility is large enough for vehicles to pass through. It should therefore be built from reinforced concrete and equipped with power supplies, ventilation and wastewater systems and communication networks. Soldiers also found weapons in the tunnels. The information could not initially be independently verified.
According to the Israeli military, the Islamist organization has “invested enormous amounts of money and resources in terrorist tunnels.” Army spokesman Daniel Hagari spoke of “millions of dollars” that had flowed into the “terrorist underground city.” According to the Israeli military, there is no evidence that any of the underground passages lead into Israeli territory.
WHO horrified by the destruction of a hospital
The World Health Organization (WHO) accused Israel of destroying a hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. “WHO is appalled by the effective destruction of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza in recent days, rendering it inoperable and resulting in the deaths of at least eight patients,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Platform X, formerly Twitter. The patients, including a nine-year-old child, died because of inadequate medical care. Israel rejected the criticism.
WHO chief on X
The Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva accused Tedros on X of not mentioning that the Islamist Hamas had established itself in the Kamal Adwan Hospital. Before the Israeli army entered the area, a dialogue was held in coordination with the medical teams. The army had allowed a humanitarian window and most of the hospital had been evacuated. 90 terrorists were arrested in the area. “Israel also destroyed the terrorists’ infrastructure and found numerous weapons and intelligence documents hidden in the incubators in the neonatal ward, among other places.”
German hostage speaks on US television about captivity
According to a freed German-Israeli hostage, women in particular have to endure particular fears when held captive by the terrorist organization Hamas. “As a woman, you have never completely gotten rid of the fear of being raped or being part of a series of acts, never,” said Yarden Romann in an interview with the US broadcaster CBS.
Interview on X
“It’s simply not an option because as long as you’re there, you’re hopeless. You have no protection, you can never object, it could cost you your life,” said Romann in an excerpt from the program published in advance on Platform “60 Minutes”. The fear wasn’t always extreme, but it never went away, she said. Romann was released by Hamas at the end of November as part of an agreement with the Israeli government.
Provider: Communication services are being restored
According to the provider, telecommunications services in the southern and central areas of the contested Gaza Strip are currently being gradually restored after several days of outages. Work is also underway to restore services in the city of Gaza and in the north of the Palestinian coastal area, the West Bank-based company Paltel said on the X platform. Communications and internet services were down on Thursday.
What will be important on Monday
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wants to visit Israel this Monday. It is expected that he will also talk to the military leadership there about scaling back the intensive ground operations and air strikes in the Gaza Strip, the ministry said previously. The New York Times reported, citing military sources, that Austin would also hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Joav Gallant.