IDF Destroys Gaza Terror Tunnel Being Built By Hamas
Image by getty images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israel Defense Forces discovered and demolished a terror tunnel that crossed into Israel from central Gaza.
The tunnel, which had been monitored for several weeks, was demolished on Saturday, the IDF announced Sunday. The tunnel is believed to have belonged to the Hamas terror organization. The exit of the tunnel had not yet been completed.
The tunnel had electricity and other amenities, such as ventilation and communications equipment, suggesting that it was a significant tunnel for Hamas, the IDF also said in a statement.
It was blown up using a new method that does not require air strikes or explosions.
The demolition of the tunnel, which began in Khan Younis and extended past the Israeli-Gaza border into farmland in southern Israel near the Gaza border, comes about six weeks after another tunnel was discovered and blown up, while members of the Islamic Jihad, which was digging the tunnel, were inside.
“We see this as a severe violation of Israeli sovereignty and we hold the Hamas terror organization responsible,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. “The IDF will continue to discover and destroy the tunnels in order to defend and protect Israeli civilians and has no interest in escalating the situation.”
“We have achieved new technological capabilities in the fight against tunnel terror,” Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement after the tunnel’s destruction was announced. “I hope that in coming months the threat of the tunnels to the residents of the Gaza border area will become a thing of the past,” he also said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
