Israeli army: Largest Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip uncovered to date
The tunnel is part of a larger, branched network that is four kilometers long and reaches up to 400 meters to the Eres border crossing, the Israeli army announced. The construction of the tunnel cost millions of dollars and took several years; the project manager was Mohamed Jahja, brother of Hamas leader Jahja Sinwar, who is considered one of the masterminds behind Hamas' major attack on Israel on October 7.
The corridors have a sewage system, electricity, ventilation, sewage disposal and a communications network as well as rails. The floor is made of tamped earth, the walls are made of reinforced concrete and the entrance consists of a metal cylinder with walls one and a half centimetres thick.
Footage released by the Israeli army, which is said to have been filmed by Hamas, shows a small construction vehicle being driven into the tunnel, as well as an extensive temporary warehouse with prefabricated concrete parts to reinforce the walls and construction workers digging in the earth with heavy equipment.
According to the Israeli army, it found numerous weapons in the tunnel that were ready for use in an attack.
Hamas had invested great resources in the project, said army spokesman Richard Hecht. It had done this "for one purpose only", to "attack the state of Israel and its inhabitants", he said.
The tunnel was deliberately built near the Eres crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip, Hecht said. Israel uses it to control Palestinian workers and other travelers who need medical assistance in Israel.
"For Hamas, attacks on the people of Israel continue to take priority over the people of Gaza," Hecht said.
The war between Israel and Hamas has now been going on for ten weeks. Hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA, invaded Israeli towns on 7 October and committed atrocities against civilians. According to Israeli reports, around 1140 people were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
In response, the Israeli army has since bombed targets in the Gaza Strip and launched a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, around 18,800 people have been killed so far. According to the Israeli army, 121 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
The labyrinth of tunnels, known as the "Gaza Metro" by the Israeli army, was originally built to circumvent the Israeli-Egyptian blockade after Hamas came to power in the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hundreds of tunnels were built to the Egyptian Sinai through which people, goods and weapons entered the Gaza Strip.
Since the war with Israel in 2014, the tunnel system has been expanded and Hamas has repeatedly used it in its rocket attacks. According to a study by the US military academy West Point, there are 1,300 tunnels with a total length of more than 500 kilometers. At the beginning of December, the Israeli army declared that it had discovered more than 800 tunnels and destroyed 500 of them.
Israeli media recently reported that the army was considering flooding the tunnels with water from the Mediterranean and had already carried out successful tests.
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- The Israeli army revealed that they had discovered the largest Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip to date, which is part of a larger network.
- The Hamas tunnel, constructed over several years and costing millions of dollars, reached up to 400 meters towards the Eres border crossing.
- The project manager for the Hamas tunnel was Mohamed Jahja, the brother of Hamas leader Jahja Sinwar, who was involved in planning a major attack on Israel.
- Richard Hecht, an army spokesman, stated that Hamas had invested significant resources in the tunnel project with the sole intention of attacking Israel and its inhabitants.
- The Israeli army found numerous weapons in the Hamas tunnel that were prepared for use in an imminent attack.
- According to Hecht, the Hamas tunnel was strategically located near the Eres crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip, where Israel controls Palestinian travelers seeking medical assistance.
- Hamas continues to prioritize attacks against Israelis over the welfare of the Gaza Strip's population, Hecht asserted.
- An operational vehicle was spotted inside the tunnel, and footage released by the Israeli army (claiming it was filmed by Hamas) showed workers preparing the tunnels with construction equipment.
Source: www.stern.de
