IDF destroys Hamas terror tunnel, prevents devastating terror attack

The IDF has again exposed and neutralized a threat emanating from a Hamas terror tunnel.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

The IDF demolished a Hamas-built terror tunnel on the Gaza border, the second such incident in weeks.

An IDF spokesperson announced that the tunnel ran from Khan Younis several hundred feet into Israel’s Eshkol region. The tunnel could have been used to abduct soldiers or carry out a devastating terror attack within an Israel community.

The discovery was made several weeks ago with the help of advanced technology, the IDF statement said. The tunnel has since been under IDF monitoring until its destruction on Sunday.

The tunnel was “a blatant breach of Israel’s sovereignty, an unacceptable situation which prompted the IDF’s actions,” the military said, and its exposure was “an operational success based on advanced technology, a testimony to the IDF’s upgraded abilities.”

The operation to detect and demolish terror tunnels is an ongoing process, the IDF continued, pointing out that its capabilities to carry out this mission are constantly improving.

“The Hamas terror organization is the address and is responsible for anything that occurs in the Gaza Strip,” the military stressed. The IDF “is prepared for all developments.”

This is the second terror tunnel the IDF has exposed and destroyed in a month’s time.

In October, the army destroyed a cross-border terror tunnel built by the Islamic Jihad, killing 14 terrorists, including two senior Islamic Jihad commanders and two Hamas members. No terrorists were killed in the second operation.

Hamas has built a sophisticated network of terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip and running into Israel, used for storing weapons, smuggling and terrorist infiltrations into Israel.

During the 2014 summer war with Israel, Hamas terrorists on several occasions made their way into Israel through terror tunnels, although they did not manage to reach civilian areas.

Israel destroyed 32 tunnels during that conflict, but Hamas has since been working vigorously to rebuild the network, and the IDF has since made neutralizing the tunnel threat a top priority. The IDF has exposed several more tunnels since the 2014 conflict.

The IDF is building a new underground obstacle, meant to contend with Hamas’ tunnel threat.