The IDF on Monday announced that it had uncovered a new cross-border terror tunnel extending from Gaza into Israel – the first found since Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.
An IDF spokesperson said that the concrete-lined tunnel that was discovered to be coming out of the southern Gaza Strip had been “neutralised”.
Hamas has been identified as the terror organisation behind the tunnel’s construction and the IDF maintains the tunnel was dug “in order to carry out attacks against civilians”. The Israeli communities closest to the southern Gaza Strip are Holit and Sufa.
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said that the tunnel was 100 to 130 feet underground, equipped with electricity, communications lines and a rail line to allow its builders to clear rubble.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the discovery, stating: “the State of Israel has achieved a global breakthrough in the ability to locate tunnels”.
He added: “The government is investing considerable capital in countering the tunnel threat. This is an ongoing effort that will not end overnight”.
Hamas’s military wing said in a statement that the tunnel “is only a drop in the ocean of resistance preparations”.
Speaking at a rally in the Gaza Strip last week, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh again told residents: “Our message to the prisoners is a message inked in blood. The rifle and the tunnel are our commitment”.
Israel uncovered and destroyed 32 tunnels by the end of the 50-day Operation Protective Edge conflict in Gaza. Hamas carried out ground infiltrations into Israel through its network of cross-border terror tunnels designed to facilitate attacks and kidnappings of Israeli civilians.
