The Israel Defense Forces released new footage taken from a Hamas operative’s own camera, exposing yet again how the terror organization embeds itself inside civilian infrastructure. The video, captured in an abandoned elementary school in Beit Hanoun, shows armed militants in full combat gear moving through classrooms decorated with children’s murals. Desks are overturned, SpongeBob images remain on the walls, and beneath the floor lies a concealed tunnel shaft leading directly into Hamas’s underground network.

The footage reinforces long-standing IDF warnings: Hamas systematically uses schools, hospitals, mosques, and residential buildings as shields for its military operations. According to the IDF, thousands of structures in Beit Hanoun were exploited for weapons storage, firing positions, command centers, and access points into Gaza’s vast tunnel system. Nearly all of these buildings were later destroyed during the fighting, a consequence of Hamas turning civilian zones into active war sites.

The video from the operative’s body camera provides some of the clearest visual proof to date of Hamas’s tactics—proof that the group intentionally transforms places meant for children into operational hubs for terrorism. The tunnel shaft in the school’s floor is part of a broader subterranean network used to transport fighters, hide weapons, and launch attacks, while the above-ground facility masqueraded as an abandoned learning center.

For Israel, this footage underscores both the moral and strategic challenges of urban warfare in Gaza. Every time Hamas embeds itself inside civilian spaces, it not only endangers Palestinian families but also attempts to manipulate global opinion by turning legitimate military targets into propaganda traps. The IDF has repeatedly emphasized that Hamas—not Israel—is responsible for the destruction that follows when terrorists turn protected buildings into military bases.

As the video circulates internationally, it sends a stark message: Hamas’s operations are built on the exploitation of children’s spaces, the corruption of civilian life, and the deliberate use of human shields. Israel’s ongoing mission to dismantle this network is not only a security imperative—it is a humanitarian one, aimed at ending a system that endangers both Israelis and Palestinians by design.