KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA STRIP (June 11, 2024) — Israeli military and intelligence forces reported Tuesday the destruction of a major Hamas command-and-control tunnel beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, a key city in southern Gaza. The targeted operation underscores Israel’s ongoing campaign to dismantle Hamas terror infrastructure embedded within civilian areas following the October 7 massacre, which sparked the current conflict and remains the deadliest antisemitic attack since the Holocaust.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said in a joint statement that the underground facility was a strategic node in Hamas’s southern operations. Using gathered intelligence and real-time surveillance, Israeli forces carried out a precision strike, neutralizing multiple Hamas operatives stationed in the bunker. The facility’s direct location under a hospital underscores the terror group’s systematic use of civilian infrastructure to shield itself and jeopardize the lives of Gaza residents.
Since the onset of Operation Iron Swords, Israel’s military campaign to eliminate the Iranian-backed threat from Gaza, a central pillar of the IDF’s efforts has been the identification and destruction of an extensive subterranean network built by Hamas. These tunnels, stretching for hundreds of kilometers beneath residential zones, UN schools, mosques, and hospitals, have permitted Hamas to conduct attacks on Israeli civilians, move forces undetected, and maintain the captivity of hostages abducted during the October attack.
The tunnel under the European Hospital is the latest in a series of facilities uncovered beneath hospitals and medical sites, documented in IDF footage and presented to international officials. Intelligence suggests the tunnel system included operational command posts, weapons storage, and communications infrastructure. Forensic analysis of recovered materials revealed links to both the planning and execution of recent attacks and to logistical functions crucial for Hamas’s warfighting capacity.
Hamas’s practice of embedding its military assets under civilian facilities is widely condemned as a grave violation of international humanitarian law, specifically the prohibition against using human shields. This conduct has repeatedly placed Gaza residents and patients at direct risk, undermining not only medical care but also the ability of international agencies to deliver humanitarian relief safely. Israeli officials, including Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, emphasize that such practices force complex battlefield decisions but do not absolve Israel from the duty to minimize civilian harm.
Leading up to and during the Khan Younis strike, the IDF noted the implementation of precautionary procedures designed to reduce risk to civilians and medical personnel. Israeli forces have routinely coordinated with humanitarian agencies, issued warnings when feasible, and facilitated medical evacuations. The destruction of terror tunnels under hospitals is typically supported by intelligence corroborated through multiple channels, including digital intercepts and interrogations of captured terrorists.
Since the war began, Israeli engineering units have located and neutralized more than 500 tunnel shafts, many connected to bunkers storing Iranian-supplied weaponry and intelligence equipment. Operational reports indicate that the Khan Younis tunnel site also served as a conduit for the concealment and movement of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7. The plight of hostages—a central national trauma for Israel and priority for its government—remains unresolved, with dozens still held underground in violation of every norm of international law.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have issued repeated statements affirming Israel’s right and obligation to eliminate the threat posed by such infrastructure, which enables further rocket fire and terror incursions supported by Iran and its regional proxies. The destruction of tunnels beneath sensitive civilian establishments is described by Israeli officials as both a tactical and moral imperative, reflecting the challenge posed by an enemy entrenched within the civilian population.
Independent reporting, corroborated by UN and NGO sources, supports the reality of Hamas’s tunnel networks beneath medical and civilian sites, though international responses have often been split over the proportionality of Israeli actions. In every case, the IDF has maintained transparency by providing documentation and allowing on-site inspections of tunnel locations to international observers.
Israel’s fight against Hamas in Gaza forms one front in a broader war imposed by Iran’s so-called ‘Axis of Resistance,’ which includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and other Iranian-sponsored militias in Syria and Iraq. The Iranian regime, leveraging arms smuggling and military training, continues to equip and direct its proxies for sustained confrontation with Israel, fueling persistent threats to both civilian life and regional stability.
While the destruction of the Khan Younis hospital tunnel deals a serious blow to Hamas’s capacity, military officials warn that many such facilities are still operational across Gaza. Israel’s campaign, conducted under sustained threat from rocket fire, sniper attacks, and tunnel-based ambushes, is calibrated to dismantle these systems while seeking to safeguard noncombatants whenever possible. The presence of terror infrastructure under civilian sites illustrates the profound human cost of Hamas’s operational doctrine, which systematically endangers the very population it claims to represent.
The ongoing war, triggered by the October 7 atrocities, has forced Israel to navigate the twin challenges of self-defense and humanitarian caution. Military leaders reiterate that the war’s ultimate aim is to end the threat posed by Hamas and to prevent any recurrence of mass atrocities against Israeli citizens. As operations in Gaza continue, the Israeli government reiterates its call for international clarity and support in unequivocally opposing terror tactics that weaponize civilian sites and populations.
The destruction of the Hamas tunnel under Khan Younis’s European Hospital thus serves as a stark example of both the tactical complexity of the conflict and the broader moral stakes involved. Israel’s determination to dismantle the terror networks threatening its existence remains resolute, guided by principles of national defense, adherence to the law, and the imperative to protect life on both sides of the border.
