See what CNN reporter saw inside hospital basement in Gaza

CNN's Nic Robertson and his crew got an up close view of the ash, the bullets, the trail of absolute destruction. The rare inside look at how the IDF is fighting comes at a consequential moment in this war. As the American president says the strip's main hospital must be protected Now, Israel says the very same facility houses a Hamas command complex below it. And CNN reported the story that you're about to see under Israeli Defense Force Escort at all times. But CNN did not submit its script or

its footage to the IDF. And CNN retained editorial control over the final report You'll see now driving into Gaza with the Israeli forces. It's a war zone. The conditions of our access only show officers no faces of soldiers and don't show sensitive equipment. We are passing mile after mile of destruction buildings blown, collapsed. Nothing untouched by the fury of Israel's hunt for Hamas streets here crushed back to sand shops. Everything that we see, no sign of any civilians here. And the sol

diers have been telling us that even inside the stores, they've been fighting things like rocket propelled grenades ready to use against them as they were advancing through this area. Right here, a few miles in, we pull up at a command post. Soldiers living in blown apartment buildings. Every building I'm looking at here, wherever you turn, it's destroyed and shut up. Hard to imagine how civilians endured the bombardment here. Our next journey much deeper into Gaza. We arrive a hundred meters fr

om a battle with Hamas. Tanks blasting targets and nearby buildings. The IDF's top spokesperson waiting for us. We are now conducting an operation inside Gaza next to Rantisi Hospital. Israel is facing massive international pressure over the destruction of homes. The shockingly high civilian death toll. And in the last few days over it's apparently heavy handed tactics at hospitals. We are working the tunnel. The bulldozers rebuild the tunnels that we suspect that underneath the hospital. Gary h

as brought us here to show the connection he says exists between Hamas and the Rantisi Children's Hospital. We are now here in an area between a hospital, a school and a terrace house. A Hamas commander, he says, live there. He points out the solar panels on the roof. This is a tunnel that was sliding like this, the floor. You can see here, this is the ladder going down. The ladder going down. It's going down. This is a 20 meter tunnel. And Lucas here. Look at that. Look at that. Look at the fin

al pool here. But look down here. The cables are going down to the tunnel. Okay. So they're hard wired into the water to show you the solar panels on the terrace house, provide electricity directly to the tunnel. We've run into the robot inside the tunnel, and the robot saw a massive door a door that is on the direction of the hospital. We're in what is an active fire zone here. You can hear the small arms fire. The IDF say that's still clearing that area out. We're getting down here just taking

a bit of cover because they say we're still taking classes. But over here, we were able to smell what smelled like rotting flesh that is perhaps buried underneath the rubble. No, no, don't go up like that. Expose yourself as we move off to the hospital. 100 meters away. We're still taking fire. We're still conducting an operation. Operation conducted by our special unit. The Israeli Navy SEALs are researching the hospitals. Gary later tells us he took a big risk bringing us into such a combat z

one. It is clear he wants this story told. We're searching here to see the connection of the tunnel to the hospital. Okay, don't. Don't fudge here. I won't you where the connection? We are looking for that connection as we finally reached the hospital. It is already getting dark. A huge hole has been blasted through the walls into the basement. Why is the hospital so damaged? We'll talk about why he's asking us. So the let's this this. We came to this hospital five days ago. There were still pat

ients inside the hospital. We did not enter into the hospital. He claims since then, all patients were evacuated by hospital staff. We assist this evacuation, of course, to make it a safe place for all the patients in the hospital. We do not know that the hospital is entirely clear. We do not know. We only entered to this area, which was which was suspected because we were being fired. Gary leads us through a warren of basement corridors to this room. This was the armory. Okay. This was the Hama

s armory. He shows us a few rusting guns and some explosives. These guns alone have potentially huge implications for Gaza's hospitals. And Israel's apparent push to take control of them. The International Committee for the Red Cross say that hospitals are given special protection under international humanitarian law in a time of war. But if militants store weapons there or use them as a base of fire. Then that protection falls away. In other rooms, he shows us a motorbike with a bullet hole in

it that he suspects was used by Hamas attackers October 7th and nearby possible evidence. Hostages could have been held here. We are now in the basement in the same area. Yards from the motorcycle, we see a chair we see a rope. Here, a woman's clothes or a woman's something cover and a woman. She think a woman was tied up in this chair. This is an assumption going to be checked by DNA for evidence, Hagar says. Points towards Hamas and possible hostage presents below the hospital and by bringing

us here to this hospital and showing us the connection that you believe exists between the terrorists and the possibly hostages. What does this say about the other hospitals here? In Gaza? Cynically, Shifa Hospital is no bisects by intelligence to be a terrorist hub. And also, it's suspicious also in holding hostages. This is the best shelter for the terrible war machine of Hamas. But the hospital authorities said they have no knowledge of Hamas or other groups inside the hospitals. Is that poss

ible? I think that's not possible. It's one hospital to have this kind of an infrastructure. We knew the terrorists were here. We knew we knew by intelligence. And also we got some fire from this area, from this area, from this area. And we were ready to fire because what we found an armory. But so much damage all around here. There is damage all around here because Hamas made it impossible for us to fight him. He built all this infrastructure in tunnels and in hospitals around areas populated.

As we exit the hospital. It is already dark, but just getting ready to leave right now. The firefight still going on, still intense bullets fired explosions going on up the street there. This war and the controversies surrounding it far from resolved. Nic Robertson, CNN, Gaza.