As Israel Defense Forces troops neared Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, with fierce battles in the surrounding streets, a number of current and former Israeli defense and intelligence officials described, in a report published Sunday, the Hamas command center they believe the soldiers will find underneath the medical center.
Israel has long said the terror group’s main base of operations is under Shifa Hospital, and last month the IDF provided visuals and intercepted audio as evidence of the terror organization’s activities.
The eight officials, speaking anonymously, told The New York Times that while Hamas originally appropriated basement areas in the hospital — which was built by Israel when it still ruled Gaza — the terror group has since then dug several further floors and added tunnels to make the site a hub in its vast underground labyrinth.
A former Shin Bet official and two other Israeli officials told the newspaper that there were several floors dug underneath Shifa that held meeting areas, living spaces and storage facilities.
The officials said the subterranean area, built over the past 16 years, can hold at least several hundred people. READ MORE