Israel blows up ‘Terror Metro’ tunnel network under Gaza which houses Hamas HQ
Israeli fighters were blowing up the ‘Terror Metro’ today – the tunnel network under Gaza which houses the HQ of Hamas.
As experts warned the fighting could go on for months, Israeli army footage showed one of their tanks moving into Gaza City, in a coordinated attack from land, sea and air. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) were increasing pressure ‘every hour’ on Yahya Sinwar, 61, the man dubbed the ‘Bin Laden’ of Hamas who masterminded the Oct 7 attacks which triggered all-out war.
He was said to be holed up in tunnels under Al Shifa Hospital, with IDF troops just 70m away (230ft). Before war broke out, there were 30-40,000 Hamas fighters in Gaza. They have suffered heavy losses, including a key ally of Sinwar, Muhsin Abu Zina.
He specialized in manufacturing “strategic weapons and rockets”, and was the head of their industries division. He was tracked down and killed after drones and listening devices were used to check out upto 311 miles of underground passages and storage facilities.
Sponge ‘bombs’ were deployed to secure walls as the Israeli systematically destroyed 130 tunnels by mid afternoon. “The combat will get fiercer,” IDF spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said. “We are getting closer to the beating heart of Hamas’ terror institutions.”
But the key question for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained: how to bring 240 Israeli hostages out alive. Infantry cornered the last remains of a 1,000-strong Hamas battalion holed up in the Indonesian Hospital. Outside, the battered civilian population told how they could taste the dust, soot and smoke which filled the air as entire districts were burned to the ground.
Many were surviving on one or two pieces of bread a day. Hospitals were forced to cancel all but emergency treatment. On Tuesday, 15,000 Palestinians fled the territory, up from 5,000 on Monday, and 2,000 on Sunday. Long lines of evacuees were seen on satellite images yesterday, carrying babies and basic belongings, some on donkeys.
They told of the dwindling supplies of water, food and electricity, and the relentless pounding of Israel’s aerial bombardment. The US and Group 7 nations have called for humanitarian ‘pauses’ in the conflict to allow humanitarian aid. Around 50,000 pregnant women are unable to access routine maternal health care according to the UN. A total of 180 women are giving birth every day in Gaza as war rages all around; 5,500 have been born since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Dr. Natalia Kanem, executive director of the UN Population Fund, issued an urgent appeal for fuel for hospitals and incubators. She told how pregnant and lactating women need two to three times more water, and urged Israel to agree to a humanitarian cease-fire.
There have been ‘losses of life’ where newborn babies needed incubators and oxygen. “Brackish water is not a solution,” she added.
Al Quds hospital in Gaza City was “curtailing most operations” due to lack of fuel. The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) also told how the main generator has been shut down, along with two wards and an “oxygen generation plant”, despite strict electricity rationing.
Heavy bombardment has taken place around the hospital, where 14,000 civilians are sheltering among patients and staff. Hospitals have been warning for weeks they are running out of fuel, as Israel blocks supplies reaching Gaza.
Israel has accused Hamas of hoarding fuel reserves for its own use. They claimed that “all essential facilities”, including hospitals, still had access to power, including via solar panels. Two Red Cross trucks were damaged when an aid convoy came under fire.
“These are not the conditions under which humanitarian personnel can work,” William Schomburg, a spokesman, said in Gaza.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was defiant, and warned that they were determined to eradicate Hamas. He described Gaza City as ‘the largest terrorist base ever built’. Israel says Hamas has its central command in the vast labyrinth of tunnels built under the city.
He said Sinwar ‘a month ago made the murderous decision to attack Israeli civilians, women, and children.’ And now, he is ‘cut off from his surroundings, his chain of command is weakening.’ Top diplomats from the Group of Seven supported Israel’s right to self-defence but called for “humanitarian pauses” to speed aid to desperate civilians.
“All parties must allow unimpeded humanitarian support, including food, water, medical care, fuel and shelter, and access for humanitarian workers,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken alongside Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy.
“We support humanitarian pauses and corridors to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement and the release of hostages.”
Nearly two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3m residents are internally displaced, according to U.N. figures, with thousands seeking refuge at hospitals including in makeshift canvas shelters in their car parks. According to Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 10,500 have died, including 4,300 children. Another 100 lives were killed overnight in attacks in the south of Gaza, where Israel advised citizens to seek refuge.
Lt Col Lerner added: “Every single loss of a civilian life is an individual tragedy and also a collective tragedy. Thirty two of our officers have been lost. That is the price of restoring security for the people of Israel. I would like to know what conditions the hostages have, we have been asking the International Red Cross to verify that. Our end goal is to rid Hamas from the realm of existence. Gaza cannot remain, it was a staging ground for the most brutal massacre Israel has ever endured.”
Source » msn.com
