Israel says it has dismantled a tunnel built by Hamas under a hospital in Gaza.

Israel said Wednesday that in November it had dismantled a tunnel under Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the medical facility that Israel and allies say was used by Hamas as a shield for a vast underground militia complex.

The 800-foot-long tunnel, about 800 feet, was dismantled without damaging the hospital, the Israeli army said in a statement. The tunnel “led to a number of important terrorist centers and was used to conduct terrorist operations,” the military said.

The hospital was the site of an Israeli operation in November to take control of the facility, drawing international scrutiny and condemnation. It was one of the few remaining medical facilities still operating as thousands of Gazans were killed and injured in Israeli aerial bombardments and ground invasions. Israel said it was used by Hamas as a military site and to hold hostages.

Israel has long said that Hamas, which led an Oct. 7 raid on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, uses hospitals and other civilian facilities to hide fighters and weapons. Hamas also maintains an extensive network of underground tunnels and facilities to allow it to move freely and plan terrorist attacks. A Hamas-built facility beneath the hospital, which Israel had described as a key command post, made it a legitimate military target, Israeli officials argued.

Since the hospital raid, Israeli officials say they have presented evidence that Hamas used the hospital as a military facility, including the discovery of weapons, underground bunkers and, nearby, the body of an Israeli soldier who was taken hostage on October 7. .

Health officials in Gaza have denied Hamas’ use of the hospital, saying it has served only as a medical facility. When Israeli forces entered the hospital, hundreds of patients were evacuated and thousands of Gazans, who had been driven from their homes by Israeli bombardments and had taken refuge on the hospital grounds, were forced to flee again.

On Tuesday, newly declassified U.S. intelligence revealed that U.S. spy agencies believe Hamas and another Palestinian group used the hospital to direct forces and hold some hostages. A senior intelligence official said US intelligence agencies have obtained information that Hamas fighters had evacuated the complex days before the hospital operation, and that assessment remains firm despite questions from some news organizations about the presence of Hamas there.

Israel has been criticized for failing to provide evidence of specific claims made in the run-up to the hospital raid, including that it would discover a sophisticated underground command center and access points to the tunnel from the hospital’s wards. Israel has provided no evidence to support these specific claims because, the military said, it was unable to fully excavate the tunnel because it was full of booby traps.

Images released by the Israeli military clearly show extensive tunnels, but not how they were used.