The IDF on Thursday publicly exposed the full underground terror infrastructure buried beneath the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanun — a sprawling network of bunkers and weapons facilities hidden under homes, schools, and civilian buildings.

“The city of Beit Hanun is a central Hamas terror stronghold in Gaza,” the IDF revealed. “Beneath civilian homes, Hamas built an extensive tunnel network.”

The statement details a two-layered war zone: one visible, one buried. Above ground, thousands of buildings were turned into firing positions, ammunition depots, and command centers. Below them, an underground terror labyrinth stretched beneath homes and even an elementary school, where a tunnel shaft led directly under classrooms.

The IDF report shows that Hamas fighters used civilian buildings — including a school full of children — to shelter terrorists, launch rockets, and store weapons. Israeli forces found that armed operatives were literally fighting from inside classrooms.

Under one elementary school, soldiers uncovered a concealed tunnel shaft leading into a fortified subterranean route, linking fighters to munitions storage and escape passages.

By July, the last Hamas forces in Beit Hanun either surrendered or were killed. The city aboveground was nearly obliterated — the direct result, Israeli commanders say, of a war fought against a terror army embedded inside civilian infrastructure.

During a visit to “Israela,” a classified IDF position overlooking the city, The Jerusalem Post observed the ruins firsthand. From this strategic high point, commanders described how Hamas wove its military infrastructure into the city’s civilian landscape, ensuring that any battle would level entire neighborhoods.

Lt.-Col. (res.) “T,” commander of Battalion 969, said his unit continues operations in the area as part of Gaza’s northern brigade.

“We built this position to prevent any future invasion from reaching Israel and to continue targeting Hamas terrorists,” he said.

The war in Gaza has been declared over for six weeks, raising questions about why Israel is exposing these findings now. Israeli officials suspect the timing is strategic: as international debates escalate over a post-war Gaza, Jerusalem wants the world to understand why Hamas must be disarmed, and how deeply it burrowed into civilian life.

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