Hamas has continued rebuilding its network of cross-border terror tunnels, a Hamas fighter has revealed to Israeli security agency Shin Bet one year after Operation Protective Edge.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 10 with confirmation from the IDF, there are “not a small number” of terror tunnels in existence. This has led to the IDF “working around the clock” to prevent the tunnels from becoming more of a threat. However, the report states that the army has been reluctant to enter Gaza to destroy the tunnels because they do not wish to trigger another war.
This new revelation comes in light of the fact that Iran has begun to re-start its policy of funding and facilitating Hamas and its military wing. This includes providing cash, military training for Hamas fighters, weaponry and electronic equipment including for the use against drones.
There have also been reports that Hamas is training its fighters in anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles as well as teaching their new recruits to fly paragliders across the border.
Israeli security agency Shin Bet has also released a report detailing information garnered from Adel Shehadeh Shaer, a Hamas fighter who was arrested last month on the border. Shaer reportedly worked on tunnels in recent months. He told Shin Beit operatives that other members of Hamas had shown him a passage that has been dug from Rafah in the direction of the Kerem Shalom border. Shaer also revealed that the new road that Hamas has built near the border fence was done so in order to use vehicles to speed over the border into Israel.
Shaer explained to Shin Beit that he was part of Hamas’s logistics support division, with his main role being the supplying of equipment and explosives to fighters. He also admitted that he placed anti-tank equipment in Gaza as well as helping at the observation posts.
