Europe must stop Hamas’s next attack on Israel, says Opposition Leader Herzog, warning that another war with the terror organization will likely break out in the very near future.
By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News
A Hamas terrorist works in a tunnel. (Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Member of Knesset (MK) Isaac Herzog, leader of the Opposition, warned on Tuesday that Hamas is just months away from attacking Israel again and that the European countries must step in to prevent another round of hostilities in the region.
Speaking to Norwegian Foreign Minister Borg Brende in Jerusalem, Herzog said that “Hamas is continuing to dig tunnels from the Gaza Strip to attack the citizens of Israel.”
“If the European countries do not intervene and promote Gaza’s demilitarization in an immediate solution, the next round [against Israel] is only an issue of a few months,” he stated.
Hamas has repeatedly boasted that it was rebuilding the terror tunnels destroyed by the IDF during Operation Protective Edge last summer.
Hamas built dozens of tunnels that would be used to infiltrate Israel and carry out massive terror attacks. The terror tunnel network has developed into a strategic weapon against Israel, especially in light of the success of the Iron Dome system in defending against rockets fired by Hamas at Israel’s populous areas. Tunnels are difficult to detect, and in many cases they can be destroyed only by soldiers on the ground. This means that the IDF cannot completely collapse a terror tunnel without sending troops into the Gaza Strip.
Cement intended for the reconstruction of Gaza is being diverted by Hamas for tunnel construction instead of being used for the benefit of the Strip’s residents. Also, Iran recently resumed its patronage of Hamas, which had been halted due to their having taken the opposing side in Syria’s civil war.
According to a report on Monday, a Hamas terrorist died after a tunnel located in the northern Strip, where he had been working, collapsed on him. In August 2014, the Arabic Al-Jazeera news site reported at least 400 deaths inside the tunnels.