Quds News Network reports:The Israeli military has released a new video claiming it shows a Hamas tunnel beneath the European Hospital in southern Gaza, where it says top Hamas figures were killed. But Palestinian officials and independent analysts are calling the footage fabricated and misleading.
The video, published Sunday, shows what appears to be a narrow pipe-like structure in the ground. Israel claims it is a tunnel used by senior Hamas officials, including Mohammed al-Sinwar and Yassin Shaabanah, who were allegedly killed there. But the footage raises more questions than answers.
The Government Media Office issued a detailed statement rejecting the Israeli narrative. “The tube shown is too narrow for a person to pass through,” the statement said. “It has no ladder, no structural features, and does not resemble a tunnel by any engineering or military standard.”
Rami Abdu from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor believes the footage was staged. The site shown lies near the hospital’s emergency department, which is typically crowded with patients and medical staff. “It is impossible to dig such a structure in a hospital without anyone noticing,” he said.
He also points out that the structure appears to be part of a stormwater drainage system, not a tunnel. “What we are looking at is likely a water pipe or a drainage outlet,” he added.
The timing and editing of the video also raised suspicion. At second 14, the footage cuts abruptly to a different scene at second 15. “This kind of poor editing is evidence of manipulation,” the Government Media Office said.
Foreign journalists reportedly asked the Israeli army to release the full, unedited video. Israel refused.
More contradictions emerge from the Israeli narrative itself. The military had previously said it targeted the Hamas figures more than 500 meters away from the hospital. “That’s roughly the distance between Israeli army headquarters in Tel Aviv and a major shopping mall,” said Abdu. “Are we to believe a tunnel stretched directly under the hospital unnoticed?”
Military correspondents from Israeli outlets, including Haaretz, have also cast doubt on the claim. One military reporter confirmed that “the openings that supposedly led to the tunnel where al-Sinwar was assassinated are not located in the hospital.”
This is not the first time Israel has claimed to find tunnels under hospitals in Gaza. Similar accusations were made against al-Shifa, Nasser, and Hamad hospitals. In every case, the Israeli military failed to provide clear proof.
In one example, Israel presented an old water well as a tunnel entrance beneath al-Shifa hospital. At Hamad hospital, a water control room was misrepresented as a tunnel. At Nasser, no evidence was found at all.
The pattern, Palestinian officials argue, points to a broader Israeli campaign to justify strikes on Gaza’s already devastated healthcare system. “These lies aim to distract from war crimes,” the Government Media Office said. “Israel is trying to cover up its deliberate targeting of hospitals and health infrastructure.”
In recent weeks, Israel admitted using bunker-busting bombs weighing over 40 tons on the European Hospital. Yet the fake video that the military published shows bodies that appear intact, with no signs of burns or blast injuries.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says it is still struggling to keep hospitals running amid fuel shortages and heavy bombardment.
There is no evidence of Hamas or any armed group hiding tunnels under hospitals. Even if there were such tunnels, the bombing of hospitals by Israeli forces would still be a violation of international law.
