Troops found weaponry inside the complex, as well as a tunnel network on hospital grounds. But a Post analysis of open-source visuals, satellite imagery and publicly released IDF materials found that none of the five hospital buildings identified by an IDF spokesman appeared to be connected to the tunnel network, and there was no evidence that the tunnels could be accessed from inside hospital wards.

“We are absolutely confident in the intelligence ... that Hamas was using it as a command and control node,” a senior administration official told The Post last week, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings. “Hamas had been holding the hostages in the hospital compound until shortly before Israel went in.”

The U.S. government has not made any of the declassified material public and the official would not share the intelligence this assessment was based on.

Following the release of Shifa Hospital chief Muhammad Abu Salmiya on Monday morning, Israeli politicians and hostage family members were quick to voice their frustration.

A statement from the hostages' family members stated, "the decision to release 120 terrorists without us, the families of the hostages, receiving even a sign of life from our loved ones is a puzzling one. Moreover, this is a decision that is not consistent with the principles of negotiations according to which you give something and get something in return.

"We are in the last line for the approval of the Netanyahu deal and hope that the Israeli government will be determined to release our family members, with the same determination as it releases the director of Shifa Hospital, under whose auspices the hostages are given poor medical care and which offers a haven for Hamas terrorists," the statement concluded.

The hostage families from the Tikvah Forum responded to the release of the Shifa Hospital chief. "While our loved ones have been held captive by Hamas for many months, Israel released a murderer, Hamas assistant, the director of Shifa Hospital," the Tikva Forum response stated. "He is the one under whose management the hospital became a home for terrorists. He is the one who hid Hamas terrorist nests, including weapons and bunkers, where Israeli hostages were also murdered under his eyes. The decision to release him is a sign of moral disgrace"