Israel-Hamas War: What happened on Day 75?

The IDF has seized control of a secret underground web of tunnels which both served as a bunker for the top Hamas leadership and as a transportation route to above-ground sites in and around Palestine Square in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood and in Gaza City itself.

“This is a city that exists on two levels, one above ground and one underneath,” Commander of the 401st Brigade, Major-General Beni Aharon told reporters, and the battle for it also takes place in both arenas.

Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Muhammad Deif used this network to manage the organization’s operation and movement through the heart of Gaza City, said the army, which has nicknamed the area “Commander’s Square.”

Using the tunnels for movement 

They could also travel around through the tunnels, hide for a prolonged period if needed, or escape, the army explained.

“Hamas took enough generators and solar panels from civilians so that they could survive down there for months and even weeks,” Aharon said.

The Square was located between a high-class residential area, that includes a college, a hotel, a school for the deaf, and a fancy bridal shop.

IDF uncovers secret underground Hamas tunnels in Palestine Square (credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)

Deputy Commander of the 401st Brigade, Lt. Col. Ido, whose full name can’t be used said, “From outside everything looks normal, everything looks like a normal city.”

A short distance away from the two schools, but in the square itself, the IDF uncovered two tunnel shafts and a tunnel-making workshop, which they showed to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, but they did not take them into the tunnels themselves.

The IDF also released to the media videos detailing their find, with shots of the underground tunnels, including one that led from a home of Sinwar’s in the square, in which a spiral staircase could bring him directly down into a concrete corridor, complete with electricity.

The tunnels were discovered under property owned by Sinwar and Haniyeh, and allowed for Hamas leaders to travel from home to the office and to other places within the city, the army explained.

What was found in the tunnels?

One office, now filled with debris, that the army showed reporters, is believed to have been used by Deif, with officers speculating that a wheelchair found in that room, could have been his.

The tunnels had electricity, water, phones, food, solar panels, security cameras, as well as rooms, including one that was 150 meters big. Arms were also found including rockets, RPGs and nighttime equipment.

An elevator was also found leading into a tunnel, used almost exclusively by Hamas leadership, the army explained.
Ido said that right off the square, which had been booby-trapped when they arrived. They also found a workshop for building tunnels.

“There are posters of instructions of how to build, when to do, what to do. You can see all around here cement and concrete and equipment for building the tunnel inside,” Ido said as he pointed to concrete slabs. “All these are the walls for the tunnel which are taken down with a high lift into the tunnels,” Ido said.

In the Square’s center had been a monument to Hamas’ successful attack against an IDF armored personnel carrier during the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge, in which seven soldiers were killed. This includes Oron Shaul, whose body has since been held by Hamas along with that of Hadar Goldin, also killed in that war.

It is also the place where some of the hostages were initially released, shots that were shown on Israeli television, in which the Square was filled with Palestinians.

Earlier this week, the IDF destroyed the monument.

The army seized the tunnels and the square thanks to the work of the 162nd Division’s 401st Brigade, which worked together with the Shaldag Unit and the 13th Squadron, which had also helped fight to secure the square from Hamas terrorists these last week, gaining almost complete control of it in the last few days.

The IDF estimates that it killed some 600 Hamas terrorists during that battle.

The square after the IDF attack

On Tuesday, when reporters arrived, the square was one large empty dustbowl of brown dirt, with a mound in the center.

On top of that mound was a flagpole, from which fluttered a large Israeli flag. Next to it was a large Hanukkah menorah, which was left standing, even though the holiday was last week.

“We arrived here before the first night of Hanukkah and in a tearful ceremony, we remembered those who had fallen and everything that we endured to get here and we lit the first candle,” Aharon said.

He added that he also loved the flag, which “has become a symbol of hope” and as “type of magic.”

Some of the buildings, such as the college and the school for the deaf were standing, but damaged, and others were reduced to rubble so that a ring of destruction also surrounded the square.

Reporters entered Gaza through a coastal road, first in a jeep, open in the back so that one could see how the road leading to Gaza City, and indeed every section of the city itself that reporters saw, had only destroyed, partially destroyed or damaged buildings.

At what soldiers called “the blue beach” which had been a resort, pagodas were partially destroyed and debris littered the sand.

From there they transferred to an armored vehicle with three soldiers at the helm, two of whom Elad and Deny explained how they had been in Gaza almost from the start, with little radio or telephone contact, including with their families.

One of them Elad, had a child’s drawing pasted to the top of the vehicle, with solider and blue stars next to it and the words “take care of yourselves” written out.

Elad said he received the picture in a care package and didn’t know who the child was, but he had placed it on top of the vehicle to remind him “why we are here and what we are fighting for.”

At the Square itself, much like the road leading up to it, there were no Palestinians in sight, and it seemed as if the city had become on strange ghost town, inhabited only by soldiers and journalists.

In one of the buildings journalists were taken into, soldiers had taken over apartments, which were still partially or livable. In one living room, they had placed mattresses on the floor. In another, they had set up a command center around a large fancy dining table, pasting a wall size Google type map on the wall, which they had found in a nearby office.

It was clear from the furniture and the tiles and hallway decor that the building had been modern, with expensive furniture, akin to what one could find in Tel Aviv or any other Middle Eastern city.

Aharon said that the terrain for the soldiers was no longer that of a civilian city, but one of combat.

During the time the group was there, three firefights broke out within a few block's radius, during which the IDF exploded the buildings, such that dust or flames and clouds of black smoke rose from them. Gun shoots and explosions could be heard in the distance.

Israel will continue its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip until the Palestinian terrorist group is completely dismantled, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening.

"The war will continue until we destroy Hamas - until victory," Netanyahu said in a recorded statement. "Those who think we will stop is not connected to reality," the prime minister continued.

"We are striking Hamas with heavy fire everywhere, including today. We are also striking those who aid Hamas, close or far," Netanyahu said.

"Every Hamas terrorist is destined for death. They have only two options: Surrender or die."

The White House on Wednesday said discussions for a humanitarian pause, and hostage release are "very serious" and that humanitarian aid has been able to enter Gaza from Jordan.

Hamas carried out an unprecedented massacre on October 7. However, despite the mass killing of civilians and kidnapping of civilians, the group has not suffered diplomatic setbacks in the Middle East.

It also has not suffered much globally. Many countries did not condemn the Hamas crimes. In addition, Hamas leadership, which has been hosted by Qatar for many years, has been able to travel around the Middle East with ease. Meetings in Turkey and now in Egypt illustrate how Hamas continues to hold power using its foreign policy.

Hamas leaders have spent years cultivating their image via foreign media and also contacts in various countries in order to advance their agenda. For instance, Mousa Abu Marzouk, a top Hamas official, gave an interview recently to try to portray Hamas as moderating, even though it was not.

Another Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad gave an interview to NBC in November. Basem Naim also gave an interview to Sky News in October. Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said Hamas would carry out October 7 again if given the chance.

The IDF eliminated the leaders of Hamas's aerial array and destroyed much of the array's infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Wednesday.

The Air Force eliminated the head of Hamas's aerial array, Atsam Abu Rahba, as well as senior members of the local branches of the aerial array throughout the Strip.

Airstrikes also targeted Hamas's surface-to-air missile units and drone units.

At the beginning of the war, the IAF took out an aircraft detection system that Hamas had been using for years and had hidden inside water heaters on the roofs of civilian houses in Gaza.

'Air Force Intelligence Group works to maintain air superiority'

"The Air Force Intelligence Group works to maintain aerial superiority in all sectors and protect the skies of the State of Israel," said the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

The Intelligence Group has located hundreds of different targets in Gaza, including military complexes, hideouts, and operational apartments used by senior members of Hamas's aerial array.

The head of Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Wednesday his group would start firing missiles at US warships if Washington got more involved in its affairs or targeted Yemen.

Abdel-Malek al-Houthi also warned other countries not to get involved in a multinational operation launched by the US on Tuesday to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea after a surge in Houthi attacks on vessels.

If the United States gets more involved, the Houthis "will not stand idly by and will target them and their battleships and interests with missiles," Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said in a televised speech.

Israel will continue its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip until the Palestinian terrorist group is completely dismantled, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening.

"The war will continue until we destroy Hamas - until victory," Netanyahu said in a recorded statement. "Those who think we will stop is not connected to reality," the prime minister continued.

"We are striking Hamas with heavy fire everywhere, including today. We are also striking those who aid Hamas, close or far," Netanyahu said. "Every Hamas terrorist is destined for death. They have only two options: Surrender or die."

Rocket sirens sounded in northern Israeli border towns on Wednesday evening, the first such sirens heard across Israel in over 16 hours.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen discussed the opening of a maritime aid corridor between Cyprus and Gaza during a meeting with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos on Wednesday.

"The creation of a maritime corridor to Gaza will help Israel's economic disengagement from the Strip. We will not allow a return to the reality that preceded the murderous terrorist attack of October 7," said Cohen.

The Amalthea Plan

The corridor project, known as the Amalthea Plan (a reference to a figure in Greek mythology who served as a wet nurse for Zeus), was first proposed by Cyprus's President Nicos Christodoulides in November at the International Humanitarian Conference for the Civilian Population in Gaza.

Christodoulides said at the time that Cyprus was discussing the plan with Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Authorities, and other partners in the region.

The plan would have humanitarian aid collected and inspected in Cyprus before being loaded onto ships and transported along a safe sea corridor to Gaza. The Cypriot president said in November that technical arrangements and plans for the immediate and long-term had already been prepared.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it has been working with Cyprus and other parties to promote the establishment of the maritime corridor.

"I thank Cyprus for its support and cooperation in this important initiative, which can be used as a axis for the transfer of humanitarian aid already in the coming weeks and then as a way for the transfer of goods to the Gaza Strip without passing through Israel," said Cohen.

Israel wants a "peaceful Palestinian government" to take control of Gaza following the destruction of Hamas in the Strip, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Arabic-language Yalla show on Tuesday.

When asked about who will take responsibility for Gaza the day after Operation Swords of Iron, Ofir Gendelman stated that Israel is seeking, "for the first time, a peaceful Palestinian government that wants to live alongside Israel.

"And this is possible," Gendelman added. 

The spokesperson's comments came amid comments by Netanyahu and other Israeli officials against the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip following the war's conclusion.