Did Israel Build Bunker Under Shifa Hospital?

The entering of Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, by Israeli forces has ignited debate of whether there is an underground bunker purportedly constructed four decades ago that is now being used by Hamas militants as a command center.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday morning that they raided the medical complex, on Gaza’s western side, to carry out “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area” within the hospital, “based on intelligence information and an operational necessity.” IDF has not yet presented evidence of Hamas controlling infrastructure beneath the hospital.

IDF reported that its elite Shaldag unit and other forces of the 36th Division discovered an array of weapons inside the hospital, posting photos and video online of the discovery. Five Hamas fighters were reportedly killed by IDF outside the facility.

“During searches inside one of the hospital’s wards, the troops located a room containing unique technological means, combat equipment, and military equipment used by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF said.

Newsweek reached out to IDF via email for comment.

Hospital staff and Hamas, which occupies a series of underground tunnels throughout the region, have rejected the notion that they occupy the site. One Hamas official described the raid as a “crime” that would create more opportunities for militants “to target [Israel] and inflict more losses.”

The IDF, which has called on all militants within the hospital to surrender, has said publicly since the conflict escalated following Hamas’ initial October 7 attack that the group’s continued military use of the hospital “jeopardizes its protected status under international law, and enabled ample time to stop this unlawful abuse of the hospital.”

The Claim

Huwaida Arraf, who is described on X, formerly Twitter, as a social activist, wrote in a post published on Wednesday that Israel built the bunker beneath the hospital in 1983, when it controlled Gaza.

She referenced a 2014 story published by Tablet magazine, which alluded to multiple news outlets’ reports about conflict at that time between Israel and Hamas. The magazine stated without attribution that the bunker was built in 1983.

Arraf’s claim, which has been echoed by some on social media, states that Israel’s raid of the hospital it controls does not provide justification but makes the nation more culpable in its purported violence.

“Israel has still not presented any proof that Hamas has been using the hospital or the bunker that Israel built as its ‘command and control,'” Arraf said. “Both local and foreign doctors have denied any such allegation, and Israel rejected offers to have an international delegation inspect.”

She added: “There is no one to document except the military itself, which will show you what it wants the world to believe.”

Newsweek has examined the context of these statements to judge the comparison’s fairness and accuracy.

The Facts

The bunker, reportedly constructed decades ago, includes a secure underground operating room and tunnel network.

Reports by left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz and other outlets have specifically mentioned the hospital’s Building No. 2, which it says was built as an add-on in the mid-1980s and contains a large cement basement initially intended for laundry and administrative tasks.

The excavation of the underground concrete floor was corroborated by online English-language Israeli publication Ynetnews.

Last week, IDF spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said in a series of media briefings that the nation’s intelligence has proven that Hamas occupies the bunker as its main command area.

U.S. Backs Up Israeli claims

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday during a press briefing that the White House sees plenty of open-source reporting about Hamas’ use of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure to store weapons and house fighters, adding he was “not in a position to speak specifically to a report about a specific hospital or bunker.”

White House spokesman John Kirby was more adamant about U.S. intelligence, however.

“We have information that confirms that Hamas is using that particular hospital for a command and control node” and probably to store weapons, Kirby said on Tuesday. “That is a war crime.”

The Ruling

True.

Multiple sources have corroborated that a bunker or basement was built at Israel’s discretion in the 1980s.

It remains unclear whether Hamas operates the space beneath the hospital as a major military headquarters, even though the IDF has presented evidence of weapons stashed in the hospital.

FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK