IDF Chief: Gaza terror tunnel was ‘very significant asset of the enemy’

Underground terrorist attack tunnel was discovered under the Gaza-Israel border using new technology.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

The commander of the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that the military attack tunnel that was discovered under the Gaza-Israel border was a “significant asset” of the terror group in Gaza that built it.

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said the tunnel was detected using new technology that is part of the 64-kilometer-long security barrier being built along the entire length of the Gaza border where the Hamas terror group has invested vast sums of money building tunnels with which to attack Israel.

“[The tunnel] is a clear example that the threats have not disappeared,” Kochavi said during a tour of Rambam Hospital in Haifa, calling the tunnel “a very significant asset of the enemy.”

The tunnel penetrated into the Israeli territory in the southern Gaza Strip near the town of Khan Yunis. Over the years Hamas, has invested vast resources into building the tunnels and has not hidden its goals of staging attacks on Israeli border communities to wreak destruction and kidnap and kill as many Israeli civilians and soldiers as possible.

Israel itself is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the new high technology barrier running the entire length of the border that is expected to be completed in March, 2021. The barrier includes a deep underground wall equipped with listening devices to detect attempts at digging deep tunnels under the barrier.

According to the army, the latest tunnel did not cross the underground barrier, nor did it pose a threat to local Israeli farming communities in the area.

“We will continue to act in the coming days to neutralize the tunnel, which significantly infringes on Israeli sovereignty,” stated IDF spokesman Brigadier General Hedi Zilberman.

It was not known which Gaza terror group was responsible for the tunnel, as Hamas and Islamic Jihad – both backed by Iran – have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons, especially the attack tunnels that cost tens of millions of dollars each and divert resources from the impoverished Gaza Strip population.

“It is still not possible to pinpoint the organization responsible for it. However, the terrorist organization Hamas bears responsibility for what is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip and will bear the consequences of terrorist acts against Israeli citizens,” Zilberman said.

Only hours after the IDF announced the discovery of the tunnel, terrorists in Gaza fired a rocket at Israel in apparent anger, but that single rocket was shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.