Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told Newsmax on Monday that the military's discovery of a tunnel network underneath a hospital in Gaza shows that humanitarian facilities are being "abused by Hamas" for warfare.
"Regarding this Qatari hospital in the name of one of the royals, which is there in order to provide medical service for Gazans, but has been used by Hamas to actively conduct combat, there were armed Hamas militants in that building fighting, using that specific building to shoot against our troops, and they conducted fighting and war operations from it," Conricus said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren." "What we're doing now is clearing the underground complex because we know – I tweeted this a few hours ago yesterday and now there's Palestinian claims – that this is some fuel depot and it's not a terror tunnel. Our troops are on the ground, and they are going through the booby traps and clearing it, and we will provide new detailed information exactly how this underground facility was used."
"But one thing that is very clear is that this hospital, like so many other hospitals in Gaza, has been abused by Hamas in order to fight against Israel," he continued. "They're using humanitarian facilities in there, fighting in direct violation of international law. We're not going to have it. We're exposing it to the world, and we will continue to fight and defend ourselves until Hamas is defeated."
Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip began after the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise Oct. 7 attack against the Jewish state that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and left hundreds more wounded or taken hostage.
When asked where the hostages are being held, Conricus said the "working assumption is that they are hidden underground" in tunnels like the one discovered beneath the hospital.
"They are protected by Hamas as their perhaps most important asset, and we work under the assumption that they are not in the same location," he said. "There's a lot of effort going into finding the hostages, understanding where they're held, who is holding them, and we are hard at work in doing exactly that. Our ground operations are also facilitating new access and more intelligence as to the location, and perhaps it will open up opportunities for us to be able to extract successfully [and] get people out."
"I don't want to speak too much about it, but I can just say that a lot is going on and that we are 100% committed to getting all of the 242 Israelis back home," he added.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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