{"id":14818,"date":"2024-01-30T00:50:14","date_gmt":"2024-01-30T00:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/30\/israel-claims-a-tunnel-ran-through-this-gaza-cemetery-it-destroyed-a-visit-to-the-site-raised-more-questions-than-answers\/"},"modified":"2024-01-30T00:50:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T00:50:14","slug":"israel-claims-a-tunnel-ran-through-this-gaza-cemetery-it-destroyed-a-visit-to-the-site-raised-more-questions-than-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/30\/israel-claims-a-tunnel-ran-through-this-gaza-cemetery-it-destroyed-a-visit-to-the-site-raised-more-questions-than-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel claims a\u00a0tunnel ran through this\u00a0Gaza cemetery it destroyed. A visit to the site raised more questions than answers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A large\u00a0void\u00a0fills the\u00a0space\u00a0where rows of graves once stood. <\/p>\n

The gaping hole is all that is left after the Israeli military excavated the western side of\u00a0the\u00a0Bani Suheila\u00a0cemetery,\u00a0near Khan Younis in southern Gaza,\u00a0claiming a Hamas tunnel ran directly through\u00a0the site\u00a0and that Hamas militants attacked Israeli troops from here. <\/p>\n

But Israeli commanders failed to prove their claim during a three-hour visit to the Bani Suheila cemetery and the surrounding area. <\/p>\n

However,\u00a0IDF commanders declined to show reporters the tunnel shaft they said emerged\u00a0inside the cemetery, claiming there was sensitive machinery underground and that\u00a0the structure\u00a0was unstable. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing can collapse,\u201d said Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfuss, the commander of the IDF\u2019s 98th Division. \u201cYou have to walk to the edge. The edge is not secure, it can collapse.\u201d <\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Israeli military said they would provide video of the tunnel shaft in the enormous hole, but never did. <\/p>\n

The Israeli military stood by its claims, insisting in a press release that a tunnel ran directly through\u00a0the religious site. <\/p>\n

But that press release also undermined Goldfuss\u2019 claim that the underground command center was directly below the cemetery. A map released by the military placed the command center outside the graveyard. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy forces \u2013 at the beginning we tried to flank this area \u2013 were fired from this area, again, and again,\u201d Goldfuss said. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t understand why. Once we\u2026\u00a0found the military compound underneath the graveyard, we took all the measures to attack that compound.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Israeli military subsequently bulldozed and excavated the western section of the cemetery, where dozens of graves once stood. <\/p>\n

Pressed on how his forces dealt with dead\u00a0who were buried there,\u00a0Goldfuss said, \u201cWe try and move them aside as much as we can, as much as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut remember, this place, when you\u2019re fighting here and your enemy is flanking you again and again and again using these compounds to hide in, there\u2019s not much you can do,\u201d he\u00a0added. <\/p>\n

Goldfuss maintained that the heavy damage to the cemetery was necessary to uncover what he\u00a0claimed\u00a0was a tunnel beneath its surface. <\/p>\n

Medical staff at\u00a0Kamal Adwan Hospital\u00a0in northern Gaza have also alleged that Israeli soldiers\u00a0used bulldozers to dig up bodies buried in the hospital\u2019s courtyard, after concluding a raid in the hospital. <\/p>\n

According to international law, an intentional attack on a cemetery could amount to a war crime, except under very limited circumstances relating to that site becoming a military objective. <\/p>\n

Inside the tunnel<\/h2>\n

A dark, humid and seemingly endless labyrinth awaited\u00a0us\u00a0once inside. Without a light on, the tunnel\u00a0was\u00a0pitch-black and\u00a0it was impossible to\u00a0hear the outside world. <\/p>\n

There were tiled floors, painted walls, plus\u00a0electricity and plumbing.\u00a0Large\u00a0frames also hung on the walls, which the Israeli military said once displayed maps. A large map that would fit one of the frames\u00a0was\u00a0sprawled on a table. <\/p>\n

Goldfuss, standing inside the command center, said he was surprised at the scale of the tunnels he said the IDF had found. <\/p>\n

Detained Palestinians<\/h2>\n

The men, kneeling or sitting on the wet, cold ground,\u00a0had been\u00a0detained by the Israeli military in Gaza.\u00a0Israeli soldiers, their faces obscured by balaclavas, stood guard around them. <\/p>\n

Some of the men appeared to be physically exhausted, with their heads falling and swaying as they attempted\u00a0to remain kneeling. One detainee lay on the ground before an Israeli soldier arrived\u00a0to rouse him, propping him back up. The men appeared\u00a0to be wearing nothing more than disposable white coveralls, despite the 10 degree Celsius temperature (50 degrees Fahrenheit). <\/p>\n

The Israeli military said the men\u00a0were\u00a0\u201csuspected of terrorist activity and were arrested in Gaza and transferred to Israel for further interrogation.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of the IDF activity in the combat area in Gaza, individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity are being detained and questioned. It is often necessary for terror suspects to hand over their clothes such that their clothes can be searched and to ensure that they are not concealing explosive vests or other weaponry. The suspects are given jumpsuits, and are provided with clothes upon arrival to the detention facility,\u201d the\u00a0IDF\u00a0said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cRelevant suspects are taken for further questioning within Israel. Individuals who are found not to be taking part in terrorist activities are released back into Gaza, as soon as possible,\u201d\u00a0the statement added. <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A large\u00a0void\u00a0fills the\u00a0space\u00a0where rows of graves once stood. The gaping hole is all that is left after the Israeli military excavated the western side of\u00a0the\u00a0Bani Suheila\u00a0cemetery,\u00a0near Khan Younis in southern Gaza,\u00a0claiming a Hamas tunnel ran directly through\u00a0the site\u00a0and that Hamas militants attacked Israeli troops from here. But Israeli commanders failed to prove their claim during <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}