The IDF exposed footage of the command and control room of the head of Hamas’s military wing, located seven to eight meters beneath the neonatal unit of the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, on Sunday.
Hamas leaders viewed their hideout was optimal, with a tunnel system running under the Khan Yunis European Hospital, the largest and central hospital in southern Gaza.
While the Hamas commanders’ control room was directly beneath the neonatal unit, their war room with classified materials was beneath the hospital’s wards, and part of the tunnel even ran beneath the hospital’s operating rooms.
IDF soldiers operate near the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, video released June 8, 2025 (IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Golani forces at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis
Hamas commanders likely assumed that the IDF would not bomb a major hospital housing hundreds of patients and wounded, an assumption that was reinforced about a year ago, when during an IDF exercise in Khan Yunis, Israeli forces avoided the hospital.
On May 13, the Shin Bet received intelligence which was quickly passed to the IDF, leading the military to immediately launch an operation focused on bombing several points in the tunnel.
IDF soldiers in Khan Yunis (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)"We found a lot of funds in this infrastructure. Cash used by Hamas, of course not for the people, but for terror activities," said IDF Spokesperson Brigadier-General Effie Defrin.
Shin Bet and military intelligence provided extremely precise, high-quality intelligence on the tunnel’s route. The success or failure of the operation depended on the accuracy of the bomb strikes.
The bombs, each weighing about a ton, were designed so that two points within the hospital would be bombed, causing the sand to collapse inward and block the tunnel in such a way that anyone inside couldn’t escape.
The underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital, June 8, 2025. (credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Simultaneously, aircraft attacked the tunnel at additional points, with the strikes so precise that dozens of bombs landed just centimeters apart, each deepening the penetration for the next bomb.
Amazingly, despite dozens of tons of bombs hitting the tunnel, no hospital wing or building was damaged, and only the tunnel was destroyed in a way that trapped the gases from the bombs inside, creating a lethal gas space.
Israel Air Force used drones to trap the terrorists
Immediately after the strike, the Israel Air Force acted to prevent the trapped terrorists from being rescued, using drones to stop the terrorists until the IDF requested to evacuate the hospital.
The process of locating bodies of terrorists within the underground tunnel route in the European Hospital, June 8, 2025. (credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
On Wednesday, the Golani Brigade began surrounding the hospital, fighting in the “Triangle” neighborhood near the hospital and the adjacent “Jenin School.”
“For us, the battle started a few days ago. We launched an attack on the neighborhoods. It was a brigade-level attack, and we hit quite a few enemies and Hamas infrastructure,” said the commander of Golani’s reconnaissance unit, Lt. Col. D.
Around the hospital, about a hundred Hamas terrorists operated to secure the hospital area and the surrounding neighborhoods. Most of them were neutralized by precise Air Force strikes directed by Division 36.
That same day, Sayeret Shaldag and Golani soldiers stormed the hospital. The troops didn’t engage directly with terrorists, but dealt with explosive devices planted in the area.
Yahalom Combat engineers are locating the first shaft of the tunnel seven meters beneath the hospital. The IDF dug at the hospital’s front, near the emergency room entrance.
Removal of bodies from underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital, June 8, 2025. (credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
