Israeli army: Largest Hamas tunnel uncovered to date - WHO horrified by destroyed hospital

War in the Middle East - Israeli army: Largest Hamas tunnel uncovered to date - WHO horrified by destroyed hospital

During their military operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli armed forces have reportedly uncovered the largest tunnel system of the Islamist Hamas. The system is more than four kilometers long, around 50 meters deep and is located near the Erez border crossing between Israel and the sealed-off coastal area, the military announced. 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 trip to the region lasting several days. On Sunday, he first visited Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss the military situation in the Middle East, according to the ministry in Washington. This was also to include the formation of multilateral coalitions to respond to "aggression at sea", which threatened shipping and the global economy. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have repeatedly attacked Israel with drones and missiles and attacked ships in the Red Sea since the outbreak of the Gaza war.

The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7. Israel responded with massive air strikes and began a ground offensive at the end of October.

Israeli army: Hamas tunnels even designed for vehicles

According to the Israeli armed forces, Hamas' huge tunnel system under the Gaza Strip is also designed to launch attacks on Israel. The system is large enough for vehicles to pass through. It is said to be made of reinforced concrete and equipped with a power supply, ventilation and sewage systems and communication networks. Soldiers had 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 "underground terrorist city". According to Israel's military, there is no evidence that any of the underground tunnels lead into Israeli territory.

WHO appalled 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, which rendered it inoperable and led to the deaths of at least eight patients," wrote WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the X platform, formerly Twitter. The patients, including a nine-year-old child, died due to inadequate medical care. Israel rejected the criticism.

The Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva accused Tedros on X of not mentioning that the Islamist Hamas had taken up residence in the Kamal Adwan Hospital. Before the Israeli army entered the premises, a dialog was held in coordination with the medical teams. The army had allowed a humanitarian time window and most of the hospital had been evacuated. He added that 90 terrorists had been arrested in the area. "Israel also destroyed the terrorists' infrastructure and found numerous weapons and intelligence documents hidden in the incubators in the infant ward, among other places."

.@WHO is appalled by the effective destruction of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern #Gaza over the last several days, rendering it non-functional and resulting in the death of at least 8 patients.
Many health workers were reportedly detained, and WHO and partners are urgently…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 17, 2023

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 never quite get the fear out of your head of being raped or being part of a series of acts, ever," Yarden Romann told US broadcaster CBS in an interview.

"It's just not an option because as long as you're there, you're hopeless. You have no protection, you can never talk back, it could cost you your life," Romann said in an excerpt from the "60 Minutes" program that was published in advance on the X platform. The fear was not 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.

Telecommunications services in the southern and central areas of the embattled Gaza Strip are currently being gradually restored after several days of outage, according to the provider. 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 announced on the X platform. Communication and internet services were down on Thursday.

What will be important today

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin plans 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, according to the ministry. The "New York Times" reported, citing military circles, that Austin will also hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Joav Gallant.