Underground tunnel network used by Hamas passed beneath a school, hospital

TEL AVIV: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday disclosed new information about an underground tunnel network of the Hamas which the military said it recently demolished following the recovery of the bodies of five Israeli hostages, according to a media report.

Citing recent operations over the past few weeks in “the area of the Jabalya camp", the IDF said in a statement it "exposed a strategic tunnel network that served as Hamas' northern headquarters in Gaza. The underground headquarters, which included two levels with many routes, was used for directing combat and the movement of terrorists", CNN reported.”

“The network was connected to a shaft leading to the residence of the Commander of Hamas' Northern Brigade, Ahmed Ghandour," the IDF said, CNN reported.

The IDF had previously identified Ghandour as "a leading figure in the planning and execution of the October 7 massacre".

In late November, the IDF had said Ghandour and four other “senior commanders” were killed in IDF operations.

In its Sunday statement, the IDF said the underground network, used by Hamas, “also passed beneath a school and a hospital”, CNN reported.

After the bodies of the hostages -- Ziv Dado, Eden Zecharya, Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer and Elia Toledano -- were recovered, the IDF said it dismantled the “subterranean headquarters".

“The demolition of the headquarters in Jabalya is part of the efforts to deal with Hamas' tunnel infrastructure and to strike at its senior commanders and its strategic capabilities,” the IDF statement said.

“This effort is continuing at all times and is now being carried out in Khan Yunis and the southern Gaza Strip.”