Dozens of soldiers escorted journalists through a narrow stone tunnel — which the military said stretched 150 meters (164 yards) — to a series of underground bunkers beneath Shifa Hospital in a shattered Gaza City.
The living quarters, located at the end of the tunnel, had an air conditioner, kitchen, bathroom and pair of metal cots in a room fashioned from rusty white tile. They appeared to be out of use.
The AP was allowed access to Gaza on the condition that its journalist stay with the Israeli military convoy throughout the four-hour tour and submit all material to a military censor ahead of publication. There is no other way for foreign journalists to currently access the enclave.
Interesting anecdote, I guess? It’s more of an issue of who’s using them than who built them though. If Hamas is using these bunkers as command posts (or any military purpose) under the hospital, Israel having built them 20 years ago doesn’t change anything.
I’ve seen a lot of people posting this recently and, unless I’m missing something, it feels like a little bit of misdirection.
People have used the existence of the bunkers as evidence of a command post and ill intent. Clarifying that the bunkers were preexisting eliminates a lot of presumptions. Clarifying that Israel built them means that they know their existence isn’t nefarious in and of itself.