The Israeli army showed Reuters journalists a reinforced tunnel beside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza on Wednesday (22 November 22) complete with a bathroom, kitchen and an air-conditioned meeting room that it said had served as a command post for Hamas fighters.
The tunnel shaft, some two meters high, was accessed through an outdoor shaft in the hospital complex grounds, which were once crowded with tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians the army said had served as a human shield from war.
Israel has long accused Hamas of using the hospital complex as a command and control centre as part of a wider strategy that seeks to hide its forces among the civilian population.